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Successful Breeding 



THE.BREEDER AND HIS HORSE 
THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER 



A Book that comes 
near to the Heart 
of every Horseman. 



Price $1.75 



Published by 

ORLANDO CRITTENDEN 

ASHLAND, OHIO 






Copyright, 191 3 

By 

ORLANDO CRITTENDEN 



DEC 29 1913 



©CI.A358911 

w*4 1 





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Pref 



ace. 



THE busy man of to-day has 
not time to read page after 
page in order to sift out a 
single point. The information 
herein is supplied in brief form, 
and in plain every-day English, 
that the uneducated can under- 
stand equally as well as the 
educated. 



Practical Horse Breeding. 



THE EXPERIENCE OF O. CRITTENDEN. 

THE circumstances under which I have been 
induced to write this volume for the public, 
are solely through the desires of many of my 
patrons that have from time to time urged me to 
give them a complete history of my experience in 
handling Stallions, Breeding all classes of Mares 
and using Pregnators as Artificial Assistance in 
breeding. After carefully considering these many 
requests, I have decided to grant those wishes, and 
will put that information in book form, and my de- 
sire will be to try and make this little volume of 
value to Breeders, Stallion owners, and to the Gen- 
eral Farmer. A book worthy of being read, kept 
and referred to as occasions may arise. 

My Long Experience 

I was raised on a Stock Farm of 1,200 acres in 
what is known as the Western Reserve in the 
northern part of the State of Ohio. I grew up 
with the business. In 1872 I launched out into 
the breeding business for myself. I soon found 
myself the owner of three or four stallions that 
I was keeping for public use, and with a few 
brood mares, and a few Registered Short Horn 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 



Cattle. I was always on the alert for any reason- 
able and new ideas and to test out anything that 
would improve the welfare of the breeding busi- 
ness. It is with the breeding business, as well as 
in any other business. We find we have certain 
things to contend with. The greatest problem I 
found to solve was, as to how to get a certain 
class of mares to produce, mares that were sup- 
posed to be barren, and also a question as to know 
just where to place the real cause of this trouble, 
with the mare or the stallion. While giving 
this matter considerable study, and making numer- 
ous examinations of mares, I felt justified in plac- 
ing the greatest cause with the mare. In 1896 I in- 
vented an Impregnator to assist nature in breed- 
ing this class of mares, which has been a per- 
fect success. By adding the Impregnator to the 
breeding business has been the means of making 
the business more profitable. 

There is a time for everything — a time to sow 
and a time to reap — and the Ruler of the universe 
has never yet failed to provide a time for both. 

We live, not as individuals independent of our 
neighbors, but as a part of the community, with 
many rights in common. Knowledge is power, 
and it has been said that the best part of a breeder 
is his brain, and with it goes hand-in-hand 
experience. 

No man is so fully experienced in all the af- 
fairs of life that there is nothing more for him to 
■find out; consequently every man must in some 
things be guided by the experience of others. 

I have handled stallions in all stages of their 



8 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

lives, have bred them to hundreds of mares in the 
breeding seasons, and as the stallion ranks first we 
will look to his interest first. 

The Stallion 




Keeping a stallion is a business proposition. At 
least it should be, though for some men it is a 
poor business. If it is a business proposition, it 
should be handled as such, that is, effort and care 
should be taken to make it as certain and sure as 
it is possible to do. The greatest returns, and the 
time when a stallion is the busiest is, of course, 
during the breeding season. 

Before using the stallion let him get some age. 
No colt will breed as well as an old horse, from 
eight to twenty years old, provided the horse has 
been properly taken care of. Next avoid all pam- 
pering both as to care and feed. Feed and work 
him as you would any horse, not over-heating or 
over-exerting him. If not situated so you can 
work or drive him, have a good, roomy yard where 
he can run and exercise at his own free will. 
There are three things that should be remembered 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 



that are not conducive to fertility in the stallion 
or soundness, strength or longevity in his progeny: 
viz., idleness, pampering with unhealthful food, and 
putting him to service when too young. If these 
matters are observed and you will limit your horse 
to the proper number of mares, you will get good 
results. 

Man was created ruler over the lower animals. 
He must show and exert that power or else the 
stallion, most mighty of domestic animals, will as- 
sume the role of ruler. In most cases the man in 
charge is capable enough but does not know how 
or what to do. One should always remember that 
in handling a vicious stallion that their masculine 
character is liable to assert itself at almost any 
moment. Firmness should be displayed by the man 
in charge. ■ In handling vicious stallions you should 
give them to understand that you are master of 
the situation, and to be on the safe side, you should 
be prepared with means to accomplish that point 
whenever he undertakes to test your ability. We 
have never been able to find a Controller that 
brings them to their senses like the O. C. Stallion 
Controller does. With a stallion you should never 
show any signs of fear, always be sure that you 
are in the right and then accomplish your point. 
They should be treated kindly but firmly, never 
take any chances with him, and always remember 
that you are dealing with a stallion. 

A stallion should never be petted and should 
always be made to depend on his caretaker. An 
attempt should not be made to make him do any- 
thing that there is a doubt of his being able to do. 



10 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

Should he refuse to do customary things, be firm, 
but kind; under no circumstances let him get the 
best of you, for if he does he will never forget it; 
neither will you, if you live. Always keep an eye 
on him as he is probably always watching you, 
and speak to him when you approach him. 

Let him know that you are his friend. Take 
the stallion out around other horses and teach 
him how to behave. Do not allow him to be con- 
tinually cutting circles. It is liable to strain him 
and may cause a permanent injury to him, 
nor is it a good way for him to show what he is. 
All of these are unnecessary, and it is extremely 
annoying and a positive nuisance. How is the 
trouble to be remedied? Simply by putting a 
" man " in charge of the horse. 

When a breeder comes to examine your stallion 
in view of breeding to him, lead him out where 
he can look him over, and should he wish to see 
his action, take hold' of the lead strap a foot or so 
from the bridle bit, let him step along sharply for 
a few rods away, and then back past him, bring 
him back and let him stand still before his in- 
spector. 

His First Lessons in Serving Marfes 

At the time of service is another time where 
real horsemanship is necessary. To know how to 
handle the stallion and to be able to diagnose the 
exact condition of the mare. 

In giving him his first lessons in serving mares, 
it is necessary to impress upon him that patience 
and obedience is required of him before he is al- 
lowed to serve the mare. Also, he must be taught 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 1 1 

to go to the mare slowly and go to her side be- 
fore mounting. In this way, a mare that is 
ready to be served will rarely kick the horse, as 
she would if he were allowed to run from a dis- 
tance on his hind legs and mount. 

When the service is over, as he goes to dismount 
draw the mare's head gently but firmly towards 
you and there is little chance for her to kick him. 
Don't use a whip while trying or breeding mares. 
If possible have a teasing pole beside a coral and 
away from suckling colts. It may prevent an 
accident and will not worry the groom or horse. 
Bad behavior by the stallion is caused by the care 
and treatment he receives. 

Care should be taken that the horse does not 
" waste " between services, as it will decrease his 
foal-getting properties and will weaken him. 
Sexual stimulants are not necessary, if proper care 
and moderate service is allowed him.- 

Some times in serving a mare the stallion will 
come off proud. That is to say he does not dis- 
charge. Lead him around for a few minutes, then 
try him back again. In serving a mare, a horse 
should be allowed to remain as long as he desires 
to do so, as the mare rarely discharges before the 
stallion. 

Good feed and treatment, with the proper man- 
agement, will make the stallion a profitable invest- 
ment. 

Caution 

Some owners of mares have a dread for the 
hopples, but I deem it advisable to put them on all 
mares, as some of them will sometimes kick the 



12 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

horse when he is leaving her, and when least sus- 
pected. 

I always place a set of breeding hopples on the 
mare. Never omit it. Even the best tempered 
mare in the world may become excited and kick 
and injure your horse. Several good stallions have 
had to be killed within the last few years, because 
the mare kicked and broke their legs. 

A slight kick will sometimes retire a horse from 
service, and if kicked in the genitals or other vital 
parts it might cause his death. 

Don't forget that there are plenty of mares and 
few good stallions, and it is better to be safe than 
sorry. 

Never use a stallion on more than two mares a 
day and not at all on Sundays. Give him a rest; 
he needs it and this Sunday rest will quiet him 
to a large extent, which will be one of the best 
results that can be suggested. 

Do not get excited when they say they will go 
to other horses with their mares after you have 
turned them away for the day, because nine times 
out of ten they will be back the next time. This 
will make your season longer. Do hot breed a 
mare that has been bred several times to another 
horse and failed to get in foal unless you have an 
O. C. Safety Pregnator or an O. C. Improved Re- 
liable Pregnator to use on them; then you can 
feel safe in breeding any that come. 

Working the Stallion 

Everyone surely appreciates the fact that health 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 13 

and vigor, at its best, cannot be had in the animal 
kingdom without exercise. 

There is no reason under the sun why the stal- 
lion should not be put to work every work-day of his 
life. There is every reason why he should. We 
expect his offspring to be able to pull the largest 
loads and at a lively gait. Why should we ex- 
pect them to do more than he is able to do him- 
self? 

The stallion should not*be required to do arduous 
labor during the season, as it uses up too much of 
his vitality. Light work or a road exercise is bet- 
ter. If fleshy stallions are put to work, they 
should be handled very carefully in the spring- 
time and hot weather to prevent over-exhaustion, 
which frequently causes death. 

There are men who imagine if they pay $2,500 
for a stallion he is too high priced to work. The 
stallion that cannot do a good hard day's work, 
and do it every day in the year, will not be able 
to sire foals that can do heavy work. If we do 
not work our stallions so as to develop their mus- 
cles we will soon be producing a race of horses 
without sufficient muscle for heavy work. 

Results are what we want and to secure strong, 
vigorous, healthy colts the parents should be as 
near in normal condition as it is possible to have 
them. 

In conclusion, then, it is well for us to remem- 
ber that if it is foals we want, and especially if it 
is foals of the most pronounced vitality, those 
which will mature into horses capable of perform- 
ing our heavy work and with such powers of re- 



14 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

sistance that disease will not attack them, we 
must have stallions and mares that are physically 
and sexually vigorous and normal. Even if we 
have such mares and stallions it is only by good 
care and the best of handling that will enable us 
to keep them in the best breeding condition. 

We have men in this locality who have some of 
the best mares in the country and who are good 
feeders and all around horsemen, who refuse to 
breed to local stallions because through lack of 
exercise the stallions are not sure. Exercise is 
necessary to keep up the health, tone and potency 
of the horse. Stallions deprived of it usually be- 
come practically impotent after a very few years. 

It is well known that there are large numbers of 
horse owners — especially among farmers who breed 
on a small scale, and without very definite ideas 
on the subject — who judge of condition by full, 
rounded outline of the animal, and that to many 
of them " condition " without fatness is inconceiv- 
able. The owner of the second-rate, often unsound, 
stallions that travels the countryside recognizes 
this feeling, and hides the faults that would other- 
wise be apparent under a coating of flesh. 

Many a stallion, because of his disposition, or 
because some foolish keeper has handled him im- 
properly, is unfit to be worked with other horses, 
or where he can see them, and such an animal 
must necessarily be handled in a different manner 
during his idle season. He should be confined in 
a stall only at night and during cold or stormy 
weather, and for this reason should have a good- 
sized lot fenced in chicken-tight, bull-strong, and 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 15 

of sufficient height to insure his not getting over 
it. He then may be turned into this lot most of 
the time, which will make it possible for him to 
take daily, moderate exercise in the open air and 
sunlight. His stable should be in one corner of 
this lot, which will lessen the necessity of chang- 
ing him about and handling him so much. 

When a stallion fills a place in the team on 
the farm, his whole body is in a healthy and nor- 
mal condition, his flesh is firm and solid and full 
of vitality. The semen from a stallion in that 
condition will have more fertilizing power in fer- 
tilizing the egg of the mare, than the semen from 
a stallion that is allowed to lead a life of idleness. 
If we will take the germ in the semen of both 
these stallions and put them under a microscope 
we will find that the germs from the stallion that 
has regular exercise will live longer than those from 
the soft and flabby stallion that gets no exercise. 

Muscle Rather Than Fat. 

A stallion in moderate flesh and in good thriv- 
ing condition will be more sure as a foal getter and 
will get stronger and better colts than the one 
that is overly fat. 

Overfeeding is bad. Muscle, rather than fat, is 
wanted in reproduction. 

The entire worth of the horse as a domestic 
animal depends solely upon his muscular power 
and Kis ability to use it. 

It is so in no other animal on the farm. Neither 
the beef nor dairy cattle nor the quiet and contented 
hog are required to develop muscular power, ex- 
cept so far as is necessary for general health. 



16 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

No stallion can go into the breeding season and 
settle a satisfactory per cent, of his mares unless 
he is in good condition, and good condition is 
secured more rapidly and better if he is worked 
and fed judiciously than if he is stabled and fed 
high. 

Appreciating as we do the necessity for exercise 
in the breeding horse, is it not passing strange 
that the average stallion to-day leads a life of 
indolence ? 

Knowing this to be true, is it to be wondered at 
that the average stallion gets less than fifty per 
cent, of the mares he breeds, in foal, and that a 
good percentage of those he does get are dumb- 
heads and dead on their feet? 

The point is just this: muscular energy, perfect 
health and vigor may only be assured in the ani- 
mal kingdom, when muscular movement in all parts 
of the body is of regular and frequent occurrence. 
In the breeding of animals, where the qualities of 
the sire are almost always desired in the offspring 
it becomes of prime importance that such sire be 
in perfect physical condition. Such condition is 
absolutely impossible to obtain without abundant 
exercise and in no class of domestic animals is 
such a condition so certainly needed and so sel- 
dom found as in the horse. If muscular vigor, ac- 
tivity and potential energy is ever called for, it 
is surely in the horse. Of course, over-taxation or 
strain should not be put upon a horse in advancing 
age; but judicious and sensible employment re- 
quiring the use of all his faculties or powers is 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 17 



healthful and not harmful; they are far better for 
him than retirement into luxury and idleness. 

Cruelty to the Stallion 

There are other enjoyments that come to the 
stallion that earns his daily rations. Such as the 
companionship of man, the hearing of human 
voices, being out in the sunshine and fresh air, 
instead of being shut up in a dark, dirty, lonesome 
and poorly ventilated box stall shut off from the 
right of everything, there to pass his time in idle- 
ness, to listen to every sound, there to remain in al- 
most solid confinement. Is it to be wondered at, 
that he creates the habit of masturbation? When 
you place a horse under such treatment, you are 
abusing man's noblest friend. I kindly ask you, 
to just stop for one moment and imagine yourself 
placed in just such a condition. If such had been 
your misfortune, how long do you suppose it would 
be before you would be a fit subject for the asy- 
lum? Think of this, and do unto him as you 
would wish to be done by. If you are not situated 
so you can work him, have a large box stall with 
an open door leading into a large yard where he 
can go out and in at his will, that he may see and 
know what is on the outside. I know of farmers 
that own stallions that treat them out of the breed- 
ing season, as some farmers do their machinery out 
of season. They leave it stay just where they 
happen to unhitch from it after the work is done, 
and there it stands until they want it the next season. 
That is the kind of treatment some stallions get out 
of season, put in a box stall and there they are until 
the next season. 



18 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

Outside of the big horse establishments and 
other places where there are men engaged to han- 
dle stallions the year round, it is doubtful if there 
is any one point so neglected on the farm as the 
proper care of the stallion out of season, and it is 
safe to say that this neglect yields a far greater 
influence on the quality of his offspring than most 
farmers realize. 

It is a general principle in horse breeding that 
the progeny is strongly influenced by the charac- 
teristics of their ancestry. The horse which is to 
prove of value to its owner by taking its full share 
of work on the farm and possessing the quality that 
will enable it to sell well must, to a large extent, 
have this tendency transmitted to it through a sire 
and a dam which have shown their usefulness in a 
like capacity. A stallion that has been unduly 
pampered by high feeding and a lack of exercise 
is sure to be deficient in constitution and muscular 
development. 

In order that a stallion may impress his progeny 
with the best possible physical traits, it is essential 
that his muscular, digestive and respiratory sys- 
tem be kept in a proper condition during the 
period that he is not required for stud purposes. 

A stallion is usually at his best when from eight 
to twenty years old, providing he has been prop- 
erly cared for, both in season and out of season. 

Using the Stallion to Excess 

Many stallion owners would be surprised if they 
were told that one or two services a day would 
result in more live foals, than if more services 
were made with the same stallion, but this is the 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 19 

truth. When a stallion is bred to three or four 
mares a day, it would be almost impossible to get 
all of those mares in foal from the services ren- 
dered that day, for the very reason that it would 
be out of the question for the stallion to secrete 
semen containing full developed germs or sper- 
matozoa in all those services. No intelligent rea- 
son can be given for using a stallion when he is 
in a condition, making the inpregnation of the 
mare impossible. Yet this is being done thous- 
ands of times every day during the breeding sea- 
son in all parts of the country. This practice not 
only results in a few foals, but it is a positive in- 
jury to the stallion, and that is one of the discour- 
aging features in the foal production. One half of 
all the stallions in this country which has become 
sterile can trace their sterility back to excessive 
service. When a man allows his stallion to serve 
three or four mares a day, that practice will make 
his stallion just as unfit for service, and will drain 
his vitality to about the same degree as does the 
stallion that practices the habit of masturbation. 
The man that allows such should just stop and 
consider that it is the number of live foals, rather 
than the number of services that make the profits. 
Again, we must exercise a little reason with good 
judgment, care and good handling if we are to 
expect our stallions to remain in a virile condi- 
tion and being capable of siring foals endowed 
with vitality of a high degree. 

Hambletonian 10 in The Stud 

It is believed that Hambletonian made a heavier 
season in the stud during his lifetime than any 



20 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

other prominent trotting sire. The following rec- 
ord of his stud career is interesting: 

History gives it that Rysdyk's Hamiltonian, at 
the age of 15 years, was bred to 217 mares in one 
year, and 67 per cent, of them got in foal. 

In the Horse Review of Sept. 13, 191 1, there is 
an account given of a son of Rysdyk's Hamiltonian, 
Aladdin 2235, which, at the age of twenty-nine 
years, covered twenty-one mares and got eighteen 
foals. If we would work our stallions, give them 
proper care and exercise, not get greedy and breed 
them to three or four mares a day, our stallions of 
to-day would live longer, and get a larger per cent, 
of foals and colts of stronger constitution. 

I would consider that 100 mares would be a suf- 
ficient number in one year for any stallion if he 
was to be kept in the stud for any reasonable length 
of time. 

Over-service in the stud very often causes ster- 
ility in the stallion, and is injurious to his future 
usefulness. 

Service for Stallions 

The amount of service for the stallion is a much 
discussed point, the opinions of the owners differing 
about the number of mares that a horse should be 
allowed to serve. 

There are no statistics which show actual results. 
It is generally held that a 2-year-old stallion should 
be allowed to serve only a few mares — say 10 or 
12; a 3-year-old stallion may serve 15 to 30; a 4- 
year-old stallion 25 to 50. 

The following figures are taken in regard to 
Rysdyk's Hamiltonian, who held an enviable record 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 



21 



in service. He was kept in service from 185 1 to 
1875, with the exception of 1868, during which 
year he was given a rest, or at least no figures are 
quoted for that year. During the 23 years of ser- 
vice the average number of mares bred was 83 per 
year, and the average percentage of foals to mares 
served is 67, varying from 58, the lowest at 18 
years of age, to 81, the highest, at 12 years of age, 
following the year of rest. 

Mares Per Cent Foals Service Total 

Year. Served, of Foals. Dropped. Fee. Fees. 

1851 4 75 3 Free $ 325 

1^52 17 76 13 $ 25 325 

1853 101 78 78 25 1,950 

185-': 88 70 62 35 2,170 

1855 89 72 64 35 2,240 

1*56 87 73 64 35 2,240 

1857 87 72 63 35 2,205 

1858 72 75 54 3,5 l,88e 

1859 95 70 66 35 2,310 

I860 106 68 72 35 2,520 

1861 98 69 68 35 2,380 

1862 158 70 111 35 3,885 

1863 150 61 92 75 6,900 

1864 217 69 148 100 14,800 

1865 193 67 128 300 38,400 

1866 105 71 75 500 37,500 

1867 72 58 42 500 21,000 

1868 . . . No season on account of sickness 

1869 22 81 18 500 9,000 

1870 22 72 16 500 8,000 

1871 30 80 26 500 13,000 

1872 30 80 24 500 12,000 

1873 31 65 20 500 10,000 

1874 32 75 24 500 12,000 

1875 24 8 2 500 1,000 

Totals.... 1,930 69 1,333 $207,705 



Hambletonian 10, as a Colt 



May 5, 1849, was tne date °^ Hambletonian' s 
birth. He was foaled the property of his breeder, 
Jonas Seely, Sugar Loaf, Orange County, New 
York. He was sold as a suckling, with his dam 



22 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

the Charles Kent Mare, to William M. Rysdyk (pro- 
nounced Rise-dick) of Chester, in the same county, 
and he owned the horse till his death on March 27, 
1876, of epizotic catarrh. Died at the age of 27 
years. Rysdyk had been working for Mr. Seeley 
as a farm hand and paid $125 for the mare and 
colt. He realized thousands of dollars on his in- 
vestment. 

An Uncontrollable Stallion 




O. C. Controller. 

One of the most disagreeable things in the breed- 
ing business is to have an uncontrollable stallion. 
Any man can handle and control any stallion if 
he knows how, and if he does not know how he 
had better let somebody else do that until he does 
know how. Many stallions are practically ruined 
by careless handling. Often one season with an 
incompetent or inexperienced man will spoil a stal- 
lion for all time. On leading a stallion out to breed 
a mare, he should be under such control that he 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 23 

should walk up to a reasonable distance of the mare 
and stop and wait for a signal to make a mount. 

A strong vigorous and masculine stallion is cer- 
tain to be amorous, yet there is not one stallion in 
a hundred that cannot be perfectly controlled by 
using the O. C. Stallion Controller. With it you can 
give them to understand that they must obey. 

Collecting Service Fees 

In some sections of the country, and especially in 
the remote farming districts, the custom of stallion 
owners is to stand their horses on the basis of stand 
and suck and do not expect their fees until the 
guarantee has been carried out. The result of this 
naturally is that a large number of mares are sent 
out to various stallions, their owners well knowing 
that they are not capable of producing, yet they are 
willing to take the chance because the chance is all 
on the part of the stallion owner, and in reality 
they do not take any chance at all. 

There are a lot of mare owners who will breed 
their mares first to one sire and within a few days 
breed to another one and continue to change through- 
out the entire season, leaving the stallion owners to 
fight among themselves as to who should have the 
service fee in case a foal is produced. Any intelli- 
gent mare owner should be able to decide for him- 
self what sire he will patronize for an entire season 
and not change until the season is over at least. 

If the mare owners had to pay a portion of the 
fee at the time of service they would not send such 
mares to be bred, for as a rule the owners are 



24 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

well acquainted with their condition and would not 
take the chance of losing the first payment. 

It should be the duty of every horse breeder who 
is interested in better stock, better methods of col- 
lecting service fees, to get familiar with his State 
Representative and Senator. 

Talk to other stallion owners in your vicinity so 
that when the time comes you will be ready to do 
your part. 

It would be an excellent thing if a lien law would 
keep mare owners from trading their mares off 
without paying the service fees. Purchasers of 
mares would be more particular to ascertain as to 
whether the mares had been bred or not. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 25 



CONDITIONING THE STALLION 

THERE is great diversity of opinion as to how 
a stallion should be conditioned that his in- 
heriting qualities may be strong in trans- 
mitting to his offspring. 

It is the general experience among horse-breeders 
that failure to hold to service on the part of a mare 
occurs in an unusually large proportion of cases 
during the early days of the stud season. In some 
measure this is accounted for by the fact that mares 
very often do not come into use particularly strong- 
early on in the season, while the weather still keeps 
cold, so that, although they may show every sign 
of heat, and accept the stallion readily enough, they 
are none the less not in such a favorable condition 
for being successfully impregnated as in the case 
later on in the spring, when the season is well ad- 
vanced and has become thoroughly genial and warm. 
That is the most natural time for breeding purposes, 
and the chances of conception are then undoubtedly 
at their best. But, besides this reason, there is also 
another factor, of probably equal importance, to 
which the frequent non-success of a service when 
mares are put to the horse early in the spring is in 
many instances due; and this is, that stallions are 
very commonly too fat and not in a sufficiently fit 
condition for breeding at the commencement of the 
stud season, in consequence of which they prove 
themselves unsatisfactory stock-getters and give dis- 
appointing results. As the season wears on, their 



26 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

reproductive capacity is found to improve, because 
after a time they lose the superfluous fat from the 
combined effects of serving mares and being traveled 
on the road. 

A stallion may be strong in blood line inheriting 
qualities. In order that such qualities may have a 
strong inheriting power and predominate in the off- 
spring his physical condition must be in a perfect 
state of health, and again when in this condition, 
he can be relied upon as being a sure foal getter. 

This point in question " Quality " in the horse is 
that of refinement and denseness of texture through- 
out. 

He may have trotting or pacing qualities, or draft 
qualities, Intelligence, Action, Style, Form, etc., all 
go to make up the conformation of the horse. 

Both the stallion and the mare may be rich in 
different blood inheriting qualities, and such one 
that may be most pure in health and blood will be 
the stronger in transmitting such qualities and will 
invariably predominate in the offspring. 

You may feed your stallion or mare and get them 
fat and they will look fine, and they may not then be 
in a fit condition to transmit to their offspring the 
desired qualities that owners of the mares are de- 
sirous of obtaining. 

If you expect your stallion to transmit to his off- 
spring any blood-inheriting qualities that he may 
possess and build up a reputation for himself, you 
should begin early in the spring and put his blood 
in proper condition, which will enable him to trans- 
mit his blood-inheriting qualities to his offspring. 
Then their colts would have more quality, and the 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 27 

colt crop of this country would be worth more to 
their owners and to this country in general. 

To Know How 

The secret as to how to condition a stallion that 
he may be in a perfect state of health and be able 
to transmit quality to his offspring was solved after 
several years' experience in conditioning stallions for 
the breeding season. It was found on experimenting 
that the condition of the blood had more influence 
in transmitting quality than the blood inheritance 
has. Of course, in order to get great quality in the 
offspring, you must first have the blood-inheriting 
qualities in either the stallion or mare. You must 
then condition that blood of the one that possesses 
the desired qualities that they may have the control- 
ling influence in the offspring, as the condition of 
the blood regulates the transmitting power. This 
can be done by using the O. C. Stallion Conditioner. 

The Conditioner purifies the system, puts it in a 
condition for the work of stamping into the veins 
of the offspring those of the most pure qualities. 

Transmitting Quality. 

Here we show a pair of twin colts that look 
almost exactly alike and perfect pictures of the 
mother. 

This is a case where the mare was the stronger in 
transmitting to the offspring. 

In breeding, we must keep in mind the principle 
of heredity that " Like produces Like " when the 
system is in a perfect state of health. This applies 
to the brood mare as well as to the stallion. 

If " like produces like," and I think we all believe 



28 



THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



it does, why are so many people willing to buy a 
cheap and almost worthless stallion to be a menace 
to the country, or why will some people even risk 
breeding a good mare to an inferior horse, both 
in individuality and breeding; or why will people 
buy even cheap skates of mares because they are 




cheap, hoping to raise first-class colts? Of course 
the better the horse they are bred to the greater 
will be the chances for a good colt. 

Should Possess Quality 

It is essential that the sire and dam should them- 
selves possess really great qualities, should have 
something of their own to transmit to their off- 
spring and not be entirely dependent on the merits 
of some remote antecedent. Breeders of the light 
harness horse are gradually recognizing the impor- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 29 

tance of this principle of heredity and as a conse- 
quence the great young trotters who are stake win- 
ners are patronized as soon as they are retired to 
the stud to the exclusion of older horses, even 
though the latter have established reputations. 

The efficient performance of his stud duties — 
that is to say, the impregnation and not merely the 
serving of his mares — admittedly depends very 
greatly upon the stallion being in a proper condition 
for his work, and it is thus a great mistake to have 
him over fat when the season begins. Yet oc- 
casionally the main idea in preparing stallions for 
their rounds appears to be to get them to put on as 
much fat as possible by high feeding, every other 
consideration being lost sight of. 

During the preparation which they are now under- 
going in view of the approaching stud season, it is 
certainly necessary to feed them very well, but 
the diet ought to be essentially of a nourishing and 
strength-giving character, not fattening. 

After your stallion has been put in proper condi- 
tion with the O. C. Stallion Conditioner and the 
breeding season is at hand, then keep him in this 
condition by feeding him regularly with suitable 
grain and give him proper exercise. Do not over 
work him in the stud. Feed oats, bran, boiled 
barley and flaxseed and plenty of salt. These are 
all good for him. 

Feeding 

To the man who owns horses, " keeping a horse " 
means more than feeding and watering and driving 
it — it means looking after the vitality and health 



30 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

and strength of his horse — it means keeping a sound 
horse sound. 

Knowing how to do this without spending a lot 
of money for expert advice is another thing. 

Feeding a stallion in the breeding season, and 
feeding a brood mare while in foal are two quite 
different things to be considered. 

We begin about the middle of March with the 
O. C. Stallion Conditioner and in a few days begin 
to increase grain allowance, and decrease the amount 
of hay until by the middle of April we have them on 
full feed, feeding three times a day instead of twice, 
as in winter, and by the time the breeding season is 
at hand he is in fine condition to transmit quality 
to his offspring. 

As to feed, we should give him a liberal quantity 
of oats and bran, two parts oats and one of bran, 
twice a day, and once daily through the mare season 
a good feed of boiled barley with a little flaxseed 
cooked with it. Mix with bran and feed hot at 
night. A few raw eggs each day will be of great 
help to him. Give him plenty of salt, but do not 
feed corn, as that is not good for a breeding stallion 
in the stud season. 

This, with good hay, and sufficient grass, should 
constitute his daily feed. Remember this one im- 
portant matter, keep your horse healthy and as near 
a natural condition as possible. To do this, you 
must feed and exercise him properly. 

As to hay, we prefer mixed hay, one-third clover, 
and two-thirds timothy, feed morning and evening. 
The stallion should be groomed every day during 
the breeding season, that he may look and feel fine. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 31 

As to quantity of feed, it should be governed ac- 
cording to the build and size of the horse, as well 
as to the general makeup of him. We may take 
two horses of the same age and same weight, one 
a low-down blocky horse, the other a long-legged, 
long-body fellow. The blocky horse will get fat 
on the same kind and same amount of grain that 
the lank horse will grow poor on. The best rule 
to adopt in feeding horses that I ever heard of 
is, good judgment, observe the peculiarities of each 
individual animal, and govern his feed accordingly. 

The feed box should be broad and flat so the grain 
may spread thinly over the bottom to prevent him 
from eating too fast, that his health may not be- 
come impaired. 

Feed is an important factor in the case of stal- 
lions. Data gathered in several states, and covering 
a period of several years, gave results as follows: 

No. of Per cent. 

Kind of Feed. Mares. of Foals. 

Corn and hay 37,ooo 40 

Corn, hay and oats 34>ooo 46 

Oats and hay 38,000 54 

Oats, bran and hay 7,000 61 

Grass and alfalfa, or both . 5, 000 82 

Among the rules laid down one of the most im- 
portant is that there must be an interval of four 
or five hours between meals to keep a horse in 
good condition. 

Although it is not necessary to exercise quite so 
much care as to the rations given the stallion out 
of season as it is during the breeding season, it 



32 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

should be remembered that his feeding at this time 
will wield a great influence on his health and 
general condition later on. If he be fed judiciously 
now, and the same care in feeding be continued 
wlien he is put to actual service next spring, he is 
more apt to be in fine form for breeding, and of 
securing a high percentage of colts that will de- 
velop into healthy, vigorous and profitable horses. 

Acclimating the Horse 

It may be true that all men not familiar with the 
fact that when a stallion or mare has been im- 
ported into this country they must become accli- 
mated before they can be relied upon as being sure 
breeders. Often a change merely from one state 
to another produces the same effect. 

If your stallion should not prove a sure foal 
getter the first season after landing in this country, 
do not get discouraged, but give him proper exer- 
cise and care; and the next season he will surprise 
you when he will get a very large per cent, of 
mares in foal that may be bred to him. 

Self-Abuse of Stallions 

Stallion owners can not be too careful of the 
horse's habits. Among the many pernicious habits 
common to the stallion there is probably none so 
vicious and so trying upon the animal's vitality as 
that of self-abuse, or masturbation. The very 
nature of the horse's service develops this habit 
often when quite young, and unless attended to at 
once, the habit soon becomes almost beyond remedy. 
And again when a stallion is retired into luxury 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 33 



and idleness, and pampered to the extent of having 
him look fine to those who may chance to see him, 
soon develops this habit. After he has once formed 
the habit he is never in a fit condition to serve a 
mare, as he keeps himself drained of the seminal 
fluid, and when he does serve a mare he very often 
does not discharge, even when he does there is no 
matured spermatozoa in the discharge. Masturba- 
tion with the stallion is equal to the stallion that, is 
allowed to serve three or four mares a day. If the 
practice of either is allowed to continue very long, 
you may as well make preparation to bury him, or 
a better way would be to castrate him and put him 
to work on the farm. There are contrivances that 
can be worn to prevent the horse from masturbating 
but it is not always satisfactory. If he was given 
regular work he would have something else to 
think about. A stallion with this habit can never 
be relied upon as a sure foal getter, and sooner or 
later the habit has drained his vitality until death 
is the result. Work the stallion in some way, no 
matter what breed, or how valuable he may be. 



34 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE 
BROOD MARE 

THE brood mare is the foundation of the stock 
farm, and more than one man has made a 
fortune with one or two good brood mares. 

In the selection of breeding stock we must keep 
in mind the principle of heredity that " like produces 
like." This applies to the brood mare as well as 
to the stallion. Bad qualities in the mare are as 
likely to appear in the colt as are bad qualities 
possessed by the stallion. 

To be successful in breeding, the breeder must 
study the condition of his mares, examine every 
doubtful one before you breed her, and by so doing 
you can very easily ascertain the source of any pos- 
sible trouble and you should be prepared to treat 
them accordingly. 

Caution at Time of Breeding 

Caution with good judgment should be used very 
largely at time of breeding the mare, as there are so 
many chances for accidents. If the stallion is not 
trained properly he may strike the mare with his 
foot while mounting and injure her, he may come 
with such force and push her over and injure her 
in that way, and often a stallion gets injured him- 
self. Occasionally mares become frightened and 
cause trouble. One of the most serious things that 
is liable to occur is, that the owner of the mare 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 35 

who is usually holding the mare gets frightened 
and turns her loose and then there is liable to be 
trouble. Soon word gets out that a certain breeder 
has an uncontrollable stallion and that is not a 
very good advertisement for the stallion. There 
are not many men who wish to take chances of 
getting their mares crippled, and more of them do 
not wish to be crippled themselves. Just a little 
caution along this line will make the business more 
satisfactory and profitable instead of dangerous. 

One reason why there are so many mares that do 
not produce is that the man in charge does not 
carefully examine them previous to the mating and 
this is too often the case with old mares that have 
not been bred for several years. A stallion man 
who understands his business, can attend to this as 
a rule very well, but there are occasions when it is 
necessary to secure the services of a competent 
veterinarian. 

In the early days of my practice and experience 
in breeding the so-called barren mares, and before I 
had used Pregnators, was, when I found a womb to 
be closed hard and rigid, I would dilate it with my 
fingers, and after making an examination within a 
few minutes after, I would find the womb to be 
closed the same as before, and such dilating had 
been of no account. In order to get such mares in 
foal, a pregnator must be used on them. 

This way of doing was an old-time theory which 
has simply gone into history. 

Manner in Breeding 

The manner of handling mares, and the manner 
in which they are taken to the stallion, has much to 



36 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

do with the number of foals produced. A great 
many mares are rushed off to the stallions to be 
bred as soon as they show the first signs of heat. 
A better way would be to wait until after they have 
passed the middle of the heat period, then breed 
them ; and when you do take her away to be bred, 
she should be led by the halter, and not hurried. 
Mares that are hurried to the stallion and driven 
rapidly home again, very seldom get in foal. 

All mares are more likely to get in foal if al- 
lowed to rest quietly for a few hours after 
copulation. 

Why we should wait until after the middle of the 
heat period. After the egg of the mare leaves the 
ovaries where it is supposed to be formed, it takes 
two or three days with most mares before it is 
deposited into the uterus, and ready to be fertilized 
with a germ from the semen of the stallion. When 
the egg starts from the ovary the mare begins to 
show signs of heat, and after it reaches the uterus, 
the heat period gradually passes away. Mares 
differ in the length of their heat periods, as the 
egg reaches the uterus quicker with some than 
others. Some writers have claimed that a mare will 
become in foal by forcing a service when she is 
out of season. That is absurd and contrary to the 
laws of nature. Breeding a mare as soon as she 
shows first signs of heat is another reason for some 
mares not producing. Some breeders are more at 
fault for their mares not breeding, than the mares 
are, simply because they do not look after them 
as closely as they should and return them to the 
stallion at the proper time. This is especially true 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 37 

of farmers who have but one or two mares. 
The farmer dislikes to leave the plow standing 
in the furrow for a day or half a day during 
spring work while he drives to the stallion to breed 
his mare when she should be bred. He should re- 
member that there is nothing that he could do on 
the farm that would bring him as big returns for 
the time spent, as to take the mare to the stallion 
at the proper time and have her produce a valuable 
colt. 

Opening Mares 

It is amusing to see some stallion owners under- 
take to open mares. There is a class of men who 
never read, who are doing a world of damage to so 
many brood mares of this country. It is not un- 
common to see a stallion owner (and more espe- 
cially those owning cheap stallions) have a dish 
of grease as a lubricator; when he examines a mare, 
he dopes it on his arm before he inserts his arm 
into the mare. There are others who use soap. 
Perhaps they do not realize the danger that is liable 
to arise from the use of these infections. 

If you will just stop and consider and use a little 
good judgment before you undertake the operation, 
you should know at once that when a mare is in 
heat you can find enough lubricator in the vagina 
to supply all needs, either in making an examination 
or in using a Pregnator. Now let me say, and do 
not forget it. Before you begin operation have a 
bucket of warm water handy (and nothing but clean 
water). Wash your arm and the vulva clean, and 
for the good graces of the mare, keep all greases, 
soaps or any thing of that nature entirely away. 



38 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

We would like to impress upon our readers the 
necessity of being more careful about opening 
mares. Every mare that has not got a colt by her 
side, however should be examined. In this day and 
age, every breeder should be able to diagnose the 
exact conditions of a mare; he should be able to 
give an exact reason for each mare not fertilizing. 

Great care should be taken not to open the cervix 
of a mare which is pregnant. We cannot place too 
much stress on this particular feature. We are of 
the opinion that nearly every uninstructed breeder 
causes numerous abortions each year. If a mare 
has been bred and returned three weeks or six 
weeks later, showing some signs of heat, we would 
advise being very careful about opening the cervix 
of this mare without first taking a speculum and 
looking at the cervix. Soon after conception takes 
place the cervix fills with a mucous plug and a little 
practice with the speculum will enable the breeder 
to determine quite accurately whether a mare is 
pregnant or not. It would be a good plan to make 
numerous inspections of different mares so as to 
get this knowledge well founded tin one's own 
mind. 

After a mare has been bred, and returned for a 
trial three weeks later, and you lead the horse out 
for trial, watch the mare closely and if she appears 
in any way cross, take the horse away at once and 
do not allow him to worry her. If the stallion owner 
knows his business he should be able to decide at 
once as to her condition. I do not believe in teasing 
the mare very much after she has been bred. Often 
a mare will be safe in foal and the womb may 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 39 

be in a weak condition, and by letting the horse 
tease her, is liable to cause her to abort within a 
short time thereafter. 

I often think and believe it would be advisable, 
that there be laws compelling a man to pass a 
certain examination before he is allowed to stand a 
stallion for public use. 

Periods 

Some mares come in heat as early as 15 months 
of age, though only a small percentage will con- 
ceive under two years old. A mare should not be 
bred under four years old, and then she should be 
well cared for. 

Mares three and four years of age are not sure 
breeders and the number of foals produced by mares 
of such ages are very small. This is caused by the 
condition of their teeth which induces an inflamed 
condition of the mucous membranes. 

A mare comes in heat once in twenty-one days, if 
normal. This heat period occupies from three to 
eight days of the twenty-one. There is one excep- 
tion to this: That is, the first time coming in 
season after foaling. This occurs from six to twelve 
days after. Those are the minimum and maximum 
periods I have known. This condition is thought 
by many to occur on the ninth day. I know of 
several instances as early as the sixth day, a great 
many on the eighth, a majority of from nine to 
twelve days after foaling. 

A mare will almost invariably breed on the ninth 
"day, or thereabouts, after foaling, and if she is 
healthy and has received no injuries in giving birth 



40 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

it is the practice to breed her at this time. Just 
when mares should be returned to see whether they 
have conceived is a much discussed question. Mares 
differ greatly in the recurrence of their periods. 
It is best for each breeder to study the individual 
differences among his mares. 

My experience has been that a mare should be 
tried back on the twenty-first day after breeding. 
If she refuses, try her once each week for three con- 
secutive times. Should she still refuse, she may be 
considered in foal. The reason for the weekly trials 
is because a percentage of mares are irregular in 
the coming of the heat periods. 

Take the mare to the breeding barn and find out 
by the aid of a teaser if she be in heat. Do not let 
the teaser annoy or excite her. If she is ready to 
breed let the stallion cover her. Keep both mare 
and stallion as quiet as possible, avoiding all ex- 
citement. 

The surest way to get a mare settled at the first 
service (should she be a doubtful breeder) is to 
breed her with a Pregnator. By breeding in 
this way one can avoid having the mare miss 
from excitement or fear every possible injury to her 
colt by the stallion, which her owner can not afford 
to do. There are many services wasted with nine- 
day mares through anger or fear. This is only 
motherly instinct. This might not be true of stal- 
lions and mares running together on the range, but 
when a stallion stranger comes squealing and plung- 
ing it is only natural for the mother to try to pro- 
tect her young. 

Occasionally we find a mare that apparently does 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 41 

not come in heat. If we could give such mares 
plenty of salt, we could very readily notice the heat 
period. All of our domestic animals require more 
or less salt and they should have it. 

Do not feed corn during pregnation, as corn cre- 
ates heat and is apt to cause abortion, if the womb 
should be in a weak condition. 

Nor is corn a fit feed for the stallion during the 
breeding season. 

Impure water should be avoided, and the shock 
that would result from the drinking of ice water is 
another danger to be guarded against. Give her 
water that has not stood in the air long enough to 
chill, or else take the chill from it before allowing 
her to drink it. 

It is imperative that no foul, dusty or impure 
matter of any kind whatever enter her body. All 
roughage and grain should be clean and of the very 
best quality obtainable. Clover and alfalfa are the 
favorite forms of roughage, provided it is not too 
ripe and woody. 

Pregnant mares are usually quarrelsome, and 
abortions frequently occur from injuries received at 
the heels of other horses. 

I have no doubt that hundreds of mares are stand- 
ing tied up all winter, eating timothy hay for 
roughage and corn for grain, and yet their owners 
expect them to produce a good colt in the spring. 
They will be sadly disappointed, and of course the 
sire will be at fault, they think. 

Proper Feeding is Important 

The feeding of the brood mare is one of the most 



42 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

important items in her management, since upon it 
her health will very largely depend. 

Feeding the brood mare is a simple matter, yet 
at all times requires judgment. She should work 
steadily at moderately heavy work. Constant, uni- 
form work, with right feeding, is the thing. Her 
food should be somewhat different from that given 
the average work horse. Bran should enter in 
somewhat more largely. Clover hay free from 
dust and mold, should figure fairly prominent in the 
ration. She should be kept in fair flesh and im- 
proving, rather than losing, in weight. Owners 
not having paddocks or places to turn their stock 
out, will find it to their advantage to take time to 
exercise their brood mares, even if they are obliged 
to harness them. Exercise when possible right up 
to the foaling period. In fact, give mares in foal 
regular work of not too strenuous a character right 
up to the time of foaling. 

The manner of feeding our brood mares has much 
to do with the foal production. 

The following table given teaches us that a corn 
diet does not produce a very high per cent, of foals. 
Oats mixed with corn increased the foal crop by 6 
per cent. Oats gave an increase of 14 per cent, as 
compared with corn. Wheat bran added to the oats 
ration resulted in 7 per cent, more foals, while 
grass or alfalfa with no grain gave 82 per cent, of 
foals. Here we can learn that the nearer we get to 
a corn ration the smaller the number of foals pro- 
duced, while the nearer we get to a grass ration 
with no grain, the larger the number of foals pro- 
duced. In other words, the nearer we get to nature 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 43 

■ — that is to say, the nearer we approach natural 
conditions the more foals we will have. 

Data along these lines secured from a different 
angle show quite as conclusively that corn is not 
good for breeding stallions. The foal crop in 
Missouri from the best stallions is but 41 per cent, 
of the mares bred, and corn is the chief ration. In 
Kansas it is 44, Illinois, 46; Iowa, 47; Nebraska, 
49; Minnesota, 61; Ontario, 71; Montana, *]2\ 
Wyoming, 72 and Idaho 73. Here again we notice 
that the foal crop is small in the corn states as 
compared with the states producing no corn, and 
the large foal crop is in those states known as 
grazing states. 

Unsound Mares 

It is of great importance that the brood mare be 
free from all forms of unsoundness or disease that 
is hereditary or communicable to the offspring. 
Many breeders have fallen into the error of con- 
sidering any broken-down, halt, maimed, blind or 
otherwise unsound mare fit for breeding purposes 
when no longer able to work. It should be said 
that blemishes, the result of accident, are not 
hereditary - or transmissible and do not render the 
individual mare unfit for breeding. The greatest 
possible care must be exercised, however, in decid- 
ing whether the blemish is the result of accident or 
an inherent deficiency. 

The Case of Maud S., 2:08%, With Breeding 
Organs Deformed 

There is occasionally a mare that cannot be gotten 
in foal, as she may be deformed in some way. I 



44 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

will cite you to a case where I made an examination 
of a mare and found her deformed. This was in 
the mare Maud S. when she was 18 years old. In 
1892 and while Maud S. was owned by Mr. Robert 
Bonner, of Tarrytown, N. Y., I was called a dis- 
tance of over 400 miles from my office by Mr. 
Bonner to use the O. C. Safety Pregnator on Maud 
S. On making an examination I found that her 
womb was over twice as long as it should have been 
to be normal, and, too, it had turned back as double 
and had grown fast, making it impossible for her to 
be gotten in foal ; therefore Maud S. died at the 
age of 26, without ever producing a foal. 

This is the only case on record where a mare's 
womb has been found to be deformed in this way. 

Maud S. was foaled in 1874, made her record of 
2:08% at Cleveland, O., on July 30, 1885, to a high 
wheel sulky at 11 years old. Maud S. died on March 
17, 1900, the Champion Queen of the Turf to an Old 
Fashioned High Wheel Sulky. 

Mr. Bonner paid $40,000 for Maud S. While this 
mare was not one of the smoothest type, she was in 
fine condition and looked much younger at that time 
than she really was. 

I will never forget the sorrel mare as I first saw 
her grazing in the great pasture fields on Mr. Bon- 
ner's breeding farm about three miles from Tarry- 
town. 

On my arrival at Tarrytown, Mr. Bonner met me 
at the station with one of his high bred, fast 
steppers that took us up that long grade of elevation 
with terrific speed, and which I surely did enjoy. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 45 

Working the Mare After Foaling 

May the mare work after the foal comes? She 
may, if the man who is to work he understands his 
business. She may work moderately, slowly, and 
better if no more than four or five hours a day. 
When she works, she should be well fed. This does 
not mean that she should be then or at any other 
time overfed. And she should be fed something 
that will make milk in her udder as well as repair 
waste in her own body. Oats are suitable as a 
grain ration, and wheat makes a good addition. 
Let the farm mare work easily, gently, moderately, 
if you greatly need her services, but do not let her 
ever become very warm or hot. 

If the mare is to be used before and after foaling, 
careful feeding is necessary through the winter. 
She must have a reserve supply of vitality. She 
will be suckling a colt and pulling a plow, and 
she will need all the flesh she has when spring 
comes. 

I am not advocating that the brood mare should 
be brought through hog fat, as that would be a 
mistake. However, letting her get along any way 
she can on roughage up to within a month of foal- 
ing time, and then piling corn into her will not 
fit her to suckle a colt and do a farm horse's work 
a little later on. 

See that she gets enough exercise through the 
cold weather. Of course, if she is being used to 
haul wood, fodder and coal and do the general 
work around the place, she is getting enough 
exercise. 

There are a few things which those who have 



46 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

the care of brood mares should be careful to avoid. 
One is permitting them to drink too heartily of 
cold water. When salt is kept constantly in their 
mangers, and they are watered three times a day, 
there is not much danger. When they are salted 
only once a week, perhaps not so often, the 
danger is increased. Probably there are more foals 
killed prematurely in the North during the winter 
months from this than from any other single cause. 
Very few farmers are aware of this fact, however. 

The management of the pregnant mare should 
have for its object the feeding of such a ration as 
will supply her demands for energy, and in addition 
allow ample nourishment for the development of 
the foal, both before and for a short time after 
birth, together with such a regulation of the work 
as will protect the mare from becoming tired, over- 
heated or injured in any way. Moderate work is 
not only harmless, but positively advantageous to 
mares in foal. It is much better than to keep them 
tied in the stable, for in that case they suffer for 
want of exercise, or to permit them to run at large 
in the fields, with other horses where they are ex- 
posed to accident resulting from racing, playing or 
fighting with each other. If proper care be taken, 
the mare can be used safely at the ordinary work 
of the farm up to the very day of foaling, but as 
the time approaches it is important that the work 
be not heavy or the pace rapid. However, she must 
not be fretted by the other horses, or by rough, in- 
experienced hands. 

The food of the pregnant mare is most import- 
ant. Many persons fail of success in horse breed- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 47 

ing by depending on blood alone to improve the 
stock. They forget that all of our improved breeds 
of horses are the product of adequate nutrition as 
well as intelligent breeding, suitable environment, 
sufficient shelter and kindly care. 

Nothing promotes more robust condition for 
brood mares than healthful exercise. It means in- 
creased nourishment and consequently more nourish- 
ment for the prospective foal, and thereby keeping 
her in a more healthful condition, and when wax 
begins to form on her nipples, get ready; keep her 
away from barb wire, the hillside, pond or running 
water, and be ready that you may be needed. 

It does not really take much of a man's time to 
keep close tab on a mare for a few days and nights 
just before foaling, and the precaution frequently 
saves life, and that means money. 

When to Breed Mares 

The question as to when is the best time to breed 
mares often comes up for discussion among farmers 
who are interested in raising colts from their mares 
each year as a means of adding materially to their 
farm income. Many farmers like to breed their 
mares very early in the season, so that their mares 
will have their colts before the spring work begins 
on the farm, and therefore can be used more freely 
to help along with this work. 

Question. Why do some mares breed every other 
year only? 

Answer. Such mares will be found large milkers, 
and because of the system being taxed to its utmost 
capacity in the production of this large flow of milk, 



48 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

the ova is discharged in an immature condition, 
a condition impossible of being fertilized. Some 
mares breeding only in alternate years do not come 
in heat while suckling their foals, but others are 
regular in their heat periods, yet refuse to be im- 
pregnated. These mares are more likely to be im- 
pregnated if bred at the seventh to the ninth day 
after parturition, than if bred at later heat periods. 

A speculum will often diagnose these cases. A 
record should be made of the condition of the 
cervix at the time of breeding. The service 
record book should have notations indicating 
whether the cervix was loose or closed at ser- 
vice. After a few months of pregnacy the cervix 
seems to get shorter. Near parturition an explora- 
tion of these parts reveals the fact that the cervix 
is very small and short, which quite frequently 
looks like a small walnut. 

Question. Will a mare take the stallion when in 
foal? 

Answer. Many mares express a desire for the 
stallion when in foal, but it is not a good practice 
to breed them. Serving an in-foal mare with a 
rough impetuous stallion will be likely to induce an 
abortion. Only a small per cent, of pregnant mares 
will receive the embrace of the stallion some time 
during pregnancy without much objection. Occasion- 
ally a mare will show some signs of heat and 
then deliver a foal in a short time. 

I have had mares of my own that apparently 
would be in heat at almost any time during preg- 
nation. Such mares should be kept away from the 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 49 

sound of a stallion, as the womb of such mares 
is generally found to be in a weak condition and 
by hearing the sound of a stallion, keeps him in 
her mind and is apt to cause an abortion. I have 
bred mares when their wombs were so open that 
I could insert three or four fingers. These mares 
had been bred year after year but had never pro- 
duced a colt. After I had bred them I began 
treating them with the O. C. Abortion Remedy and 
they then produced colts the same as any mare. 

Care of Mares after Service 

This is a very important time when the owner of 
the brood mares should be thoughtful and cautious 
in getting them settled in foal. I have seen many 
times after a mare has been bred, when the owner 
of the mare would start for home driving the mare 
at such speed that would indicate that he had only 
a few minutes to get there in. In such cases 
about eight out of every ten would be back to be 
rebred, and with that same hurry to be repeated. 
After about the second or third time the mare has 
been handled in this way and she fails to get in 
foal the owner of the mare condemns the stallion 
and says harmful things of him, not realizing that 
he himself is at fault. I do not know of any better 
lesson that could be taught the owners of such 
mares than to absolutely refuse to breed their mares. 
There is another thing that should have the at- 
tention of the owner of the mare, and that is, not to 
turn the mare out in the pasture fields with other 
horses as soon as she is bred, and they should not 
be put into the harness and put to work the same 



50 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

day they are bred. A little care, caution and 
forethought will save you more than many realize. 

They are not in a condition to avoid the kicking 
and striking that may occur in the herd, and it 
doesn't take much of a blow, if in the right place, 
to seriously injure the mare or the colt in foal. In- 
deed, a dead or paralyzed colt at foaling time or 
immediate abortion is liable to be the result. 

Then, a mare with plenty of mettle is liable to 
run and play with other horses, which may bring 
on over-exercise and the most damaging results. 
Or accidents are apt to occur by her slipping or 
falling, causing serious strains and other dis- 
orders more or less damaging to the mare and the 
colt in foal. Simply keep the pregnant mares en- 
tirely separate from all other live stock and thus 
avoid every possible accident. 

After the mare has been bred she should be kept 
away from the sound of the stallion. All excite- 
ment and all hurry should be avoided if it is foals 
that is wanted. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 51 



ARTIFICIAL IMPREGNATION 

ONE occasionally meets a man who is so 
wanting in the spirit of progress that he 
objects to any thing new. 

Then there are those who fail because of be- 
longing to a past generation. They believe a cer- 
tain thing should be done because their fore- 
fathers did it. They do not believe in artificial 
breeding because their ancestors knew nothing 
of it. 

Such men are frequently heard to say that the 
old way is the best. If the " old way " is the best, 
we had better go back to the time when we used 
to cut our grain with the sickle, our hay with the 
scythe. When railroads, telegraph, telephones and 
other public conveniences were unknown. For- 
tunately for the country at large the greater part 
of the American people believe in^ progress and 
are desirous of availing themselves of the benefits 
which can be applied to the work on the farm or 
in breeding barn. 

From what I have to say on Artificial Impreg- 
nation I will show from my own experience as 
well as from the experience of others that arti- 
ficial assistance in breeding is a positive success. 
In 1890 and while I was keeping stallions for 
public use, I invented a Pregnator to assist in 
breeding a class of mares that was supposed to 
be barren. That same season I used the Preg- 



52 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

nator on seven mares that had failed to get in foal 
for three or four years, while being bred every 
year. Six out of those seven did produce foals 
from which I had used the Pregnator on as arti- 
ficial assistance. Since then I have used Preg- 
nators on hundreds of mares of this same class 
with just as good results. There are many mares 
owned at the present time by men who have not 
been able to have them gotten in foal, and their 
owners feel the loss greatly — and it is this kind 
that reach the sales ring so often. Numbers of 
stallions have been tried, and the results have been 
the same. Other owners, that have had troubles the 
same way, resorted to artificial impregnation, and 
have found it a success; but there are some men 
who do not believe in this and are only brought 
to their right minds when they see others, in sim- 
ilar trouble, meet with success. 

There are in this country thousands of the best 
breeders using the impregnator system in horse 
breeding successfully. This has been carried on 
more extensively the last few years than ever be- 
fore. The development along this line is wonder- 
ful, yet some owners are not willing to confess 
that they are successfully using the impregnator 
system with the best sires. There are some owners 
of mares who are prejudiced against this plan of 
breeding but many of the owners of leading sires 
can give authentic information along this line. In 
fact, many good youngsters among the trotting 
and pacing horses have been produced by the im- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 53 

pregnator system. It will not long be true that 
any man fears to announce openly that he is using 
this method. 

It is this kind of material that causes intelligent 
men to lose confidence in those who are supposed 
to be leaders among men. What horse breeders 
need is encouragement to be more up-to-date in 
their breeding methods. 

Be Honorable in Your Confession 

We would like to see men who have used this 
method be honorable enough to state to the world 
that they are producing just as good horses as 
could be produced with the natural service. I 
know this is a fact. Some very absurd statements 
are made concerning this method of breeding and 
the truth should be made public. 

The impregnator system is not a secret with the 
average stallion owner who is breeding common 
mares. I am personally acquainted with hundreds 
of these men who are producing a very large num- 
ber of colts from a single sire. There are a lot 
of mares that absolutely cannot be made producers 
without some assistance. 

I have handled stallions in all stages of their 
lives, have bred them to hundreds of mares and 
used Pregnators on them as artificial assistance, 
and I never knew of any bad results to come from 
their use but the good results, I know, have been 
wonderful. 

I do believe, speaking from my long experience in 
breeding and using Pregnators, that the method of 
Artificial Breeding of to-day is absolutely the most 



54 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

progressive step that was ever accomplished in all 
time in the whole breeding business of this country. 

Think of this, do not listen to statements made 
by some unprogressive breeder or horse crank, 
study your own interests, take advice from wise 
breeders, use artificial means in breeding. What 
has been done thousands and thousands of times 
can be done again. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 55 



TO ALL STALLION AND JACK OWNERS 

WE realize that the time has come when 
we cannot afford to depend upon the old 
time of hit-or-miss method in breeding, 
but that the nearest economy to them demands 
that they use the best help in breeding, possible to 
get. In keeping either a stallion or jack for pub- 
lic use and your own profit you cannot afford to 
have him compete in service with those who do 
have these helps. 

Serving ioo mares in the old-time hit-or-miss way 
and only one-half of them breeding is far less 
profitable to you than serving 50 mares by the use 
of a Pregnator and all breeding. That is plainly 
evident to all. 

When a man keeps a stallion or jack for pub- 
lic use it is much to his interest that all his work 
counts. It is then his duty to examine all mares 
that come to his stallion or jack that are con- 
sidered doubtful breeders and be prepared to 
breed and treat them according to their condition, 
as it is the duty of the owner of the mare to pay 
for that service. 

If every stallion and jack owner would interest 
themselves in this matter and do their part, as 
breeders, they would then make the stallion busi- 
ness more profitable by getting all mares in foal 
that are bred to their stallions. Then he gets pay 



56 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

for all his stallion's work and makes a better 
showing for his stallion as a foal getter, and then 
a very large per cent, of all the so-called barren 
mares of this country would be classed as regular 
brood mares. 

City Farmers 

I will here give a clipping taken from one of 
our Horse Journals which reminds me of the man 
that opposes Artificial Impregnation. They are 
not educated in, nor have but little knowledge in 
horse breeding and are not up-to-date in the 
science and progress of the times. 

The " city farmer " used to be known as a tele- 
phone agriculturist, but now you will find him 
with jumpers on and at work with his sleeves 
rolled up. Perhaps he is entirely theoretical and as 
impractical as possibly could be — but he takes all 
the farm papers, reads the government bulletins, 
is dead in earnest, and will learn from the mis- 
takes he makes. Many jokes are cracked at his 
expense but he does not seem to mind that feature 
at all. 

Recently a farmer friend was telling me of a 
city man who bought a place near his, and was 
just tearing things up and going at the work at a 
terrific pace. One day the farm foreman came to 
his employer with the information that one of the 
mares should be taken to a neighboring farm to 
be bred. The city man being a believer in method 
and time-saving replied, " Why waste time in that 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 57 

way? Just wait till a rainy day comes and we will 
take all the mares over at once." 

Another tale illustrating the lack of technical 
knowledge displayed by city farmers is told on 
one who went in for breeding mules. He had it 
figured out that mules were the thing to breed, and 
knowing that Missouri was headquarters for the 
big breeds, he journeyed thither and returned with 
a carload of mules of the female gender. His 
friends, upon learning of the purchase, split their 
sides, but it required the counsel of a veterinarian 
before the gentleman was convinced that female 
mules were not reproductive. 

When we find a man talking against Artificial 
Impregnation, we will find that his authority is 
based upon theory and not from actual experience. 

Below is a clipping taken from the Horse 
Journals. 

USING PREGXATORS 

Without a doubt one of the greatest losses in the 
breeding business is from barren mares, and offi- 
cial figures show that from every ioo mares bred, 
but forty living foals are produced — in other words 
the production is but forty per cent, and the loss 
sixty. This is all wrong and thoughtful breeders 
have sought a way to overcome this great loss. 
Leading stallioners all over the country have taken 
up the use of the pregnator, and not long ago the ed- 
itor of this paper overheard two of Ohio's leading- 
stallion owners state that they use the pregnator 
regularly and each stated that the results had been 
far in advance of their expectations, and highly 
satisfactory and very profitable. 



58 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



Stallion owners should use every appliance that 
will increase the number of foals secured by their 
stallions for two reasons — first, because their own 
income will be increased, and second, the income 
of the breeder is increased. If your horse serves 
fifty mares and forty are returned in foal, he is 
giving a more satisfactory business than if he 
serves ioo mares and gets but fifty of them in foal. 

After years of experience with stallions, and after 
he had found the large number of mares that are 
barren, to be constantly increasing, Mr. O. Crit- 
tenden invented the O. C. Safety Pregnator, which 
has proven the best thing ever made of its kind 
and with which the breeders everywhere have in- 
creased their colt production in an amazing per- 
centage. The O. C. Safety Pregnator is absolutely 
safe, reliable and easy to operate, and no breeder 
can afford to be without them. Mr. Crittenden has 
just issued one of the most valuable books we have 
ever been fortunate enough to secure, and which 
contains page after page of very interesting and 
valuable instructions to breeders. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 59 



CARRIED THE SEMEN 50 MILES 

FOR the benefit of the readers of this book I 
will here give copy of a statement published 
in one of our Horse Journals, of two men 
living fifty miles apart, one owning a stallion, the 
other a mare. The semen from the stallion was 
sent the fifty miles and injected into the womb of 
the mare referred to, and she became safe in foal 
from this operation. 

MAIL ORDER BREEDING 

A matter of some interest has been given a 
successful test by Linn Hill Park Farm, L. H. 
Pickard, proprietor, Harlan, Iowa, recently. It 
pertains to breeding by mail order where incon- 
venient to get the animals together for normal 
breeding, or use of impregnator. The experiment 
in this instance was made with the farm stallion, 
Capo 2:14%, and a thoroughbred mare owned by 
Mr. T. J. Cunningham, Lanesboro, Iowa, fifty 
miles distant. The common breeding bag was em- 
ployed, which after being charged in the usual 
manner was conveyed at once to the home of Mr. 
Cunningham, and by the use of the impregnator 
the mare was bred from the contents which had 
been carefully preserved at the normal temperature 
by keeping the retaining bag in close contact with 
the body of the messenger bearing it. There can 
be no reasonable doubt that this method can be 
practiced with an average degree of success with 



60 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

impregnates breeding, the one problem to be solved 
being to avoid change of temperature to an extent 
destroying the sensitive germ life of the seminal 
fluid. However, many breeders have practiced with 
very favorably results artificial impregnation of 
mares where present and involving only the time 
for manipulating the breeding devices. The home- 
owned mares of some of our popular stallions have 
been bred in this manner regularly with even a 
greater certainty of becoming in foal than when 
stinted to the horse. The matter of time elapsing 
where mares are at a distance not necessitating a 
period of several days will not militate against a 
successful issue if the problem of temperature is 
nicely adjusted. Transmission through the mails, 
or by express, as has been suggested, and we be- 
lieve attempted, is connected with much greater 
difficulties than where a messenger may be dis- 
patched employing the method used by Mr. Pickard 
and Mr. Cunningham. 

Following is a copy of a letter written by Mr. 
L. H. Pickard, Sec, Shelby County, Fine Stock 
Exchange, Harlan, Iowa. 

Mr. O. Crittenden, 
Ashland, O. 

Dear Sir: — Replying to your letter of recent 
date will say that I have had some experience with 
Artificial Breeding, and have been fairly success- 
ful. I believe, however, in order to get the best 
results one should arrange to have the best san- 
itary conditions possible, which the average breeder 
does not possess. We have been quite successful 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 61 

with the impregnator in breeding mares brought 
to us and have gotten mares in foal that had not 
been breeders. A valuable standard bred mare 
was brought to one of our stallions " Capo/' she 
was twenty-two years old and had been a regular 
breeder every other year, never getting in foal 
the year she suckled. She had not had a colt for 
two years. We bred her and used the Impreg- 
nator. She got in foal, and the next year we bred 
her again using the Impregnator and she foaled 
a fine colt the next spring. We again bred her 
and the following winter she died and was again 
in foal at the age of 25, getting in foal three con- 
secutive years after missing two years when past 
twenty years of age. 

We have had limited experience in transporting 
the semen. We made a shipment by express in a 
thermal bottle to the Iowa State Agrl. College. 
The bottle got broken in transit so that the arti- 
ficial heat was lost. 

The College received the shipment twenty-four 
hours after it was broken, the semen was put under 
a microscope and there were live sperms but too 
weak to prove fertile. I am confident, however, 
that it is practical to transport the fluid in a ther- 
mal bottle a reasonable distance. 

Linn Hill Park Stock Farm, 

L. H. Pickard, Prop. 



62 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



ARTIFICIAL DEVICES A SUCCESS 

ARTIFICIAL Impregnation has become a 
practical thing. With our Artificial Im- 
pregnating Device of to-day, the prejudice 
formerly existing among mare owners against the 
use of Pregnators is rapidly passing away, as the 
breeders of this country have seen and have al- 
ready been convinced that using artificial assist- 
ance in breeding, is a positive success; and to-day 
many of the most successful breeders and stallion 
owners are using Pregnators as artificial assist- 
ance in breeding, as a Pregnator is an up-to-date 
necessity. Breeding becomes more and more scien- 
tific and careful every year. The progress of the 
times demands it. 

Some amateur breeders may not understand the 
nature of the breeding organs of either the mare 
or the stallion. I will give cuts showing the shape 
of the womb as it appears while in different con- 
ditions, and where the womb is located in the 
vagina. 




No. i 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 63 

This cut No. i shows the womb as it is in a 
normal condition. 

The subject of barrenness in mares is of greater 
importance than one would suppose at first thought. 
Only those who are engaged in the breeding busi- 
ness — those who have handled stallions in the stud 
season — those who are professionals, who have 
been called upon to treat such cases, can compre- 
hend the extent and nature of this subject — 
Barrenness. 

When a mare's womb is so closed that the 
semen cannot enter at time of service, there is no 
stallion living that can get such mares in foal with- 
out artificial assistance. 

All mares that do not produce are not barren 
only so far as not being treated for the cause and 
restored to a normal condition. If artificial means 
were used to assist nature they would produce the 
same as any mare. 



64 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



TWO CLASSES OF BARREN MARES 

THERE are two kinds of the so-called bar- 
ren mares. One having the womb too closed 
and cannot receive the semen from the stal- 
lion or jack at time of service. 




No. 2 

Cut No. 2 shows the womb as it is when closed 
hard and rigid. 

The other is just the opposite, too open and 
flabby as in cut No. 3, and in a weak condition, 
with no strength nor vitality to close and retain the 
service after the mare has been bred and become in 
foal. 

When a mare's womb is normal, you can only 
insert one finger, and when it is too open, you can 
insert from two to four fingers, and when it is too 
closed, you can scarcely insert one finger. 

With some mares their wombs are too closed, 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 65 

some too open, occasionally one deformed. To 
know these things one must examine and then 
treat them accordingly. You cannot expect to be 
successful in breeding unless you understand the 
condition of your mares, and treat them for any 
misfortune that may be only temporary. 




No. 3 

Cut No. 3 shows the large open womb as it is 
when in a weak and shapeless condition, as it has 
no strength or vitality to close and retain the 
service. This class of mares are much more dif- 
ficult to get to produce than those with a womb 
too closed. 

Stallion owners from all parts of the United 
States complain about getting this class of mares 
to produce. The large open womb is far from be- 
ing in normal condition and such mares very 
seldom produce without being treated for the 
cause. This is explained more thoroughly under 
" Abortion Remedy " in this book. 

Cut No. I shows the womb in normal condition, 



66 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

and Cut No. 4 shows the O. C. Safety Pregnator 
being inserted into the womb when it is too closed. 
After the Pregnator has been inserted into the womb 
of this class of mares, it holds it open so the stallion 
can inject the semen through the Pregnator into the 




No. 4 

womb or breeding sack. This assists nature and 
makes the coupling natural and as nature intended. 
After the O. C. Safety Pregnator is placed into the 
►womb, ready for the service of the stallion, it does 
not change the position, shape or size of the 
womb, therefore it does not interfere with the 
Stallion or Jack at time of service. 

Cut No. 5 shows the Pregnator after it has been 
placed in the womb ready for the service of the 
stallion. When the womb has become closed hard 
and rigid, such mares cannot be gotten in foal 
without artificial assistance. 

Nature's Complete Service 

Will also explain how nature intended for a com- 
plete service. When all of the breeding organs are 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 67 

in a normal condition as shown in Cut No. I then 
the coupling is made according to nature. It is 
claimed that all things were made for a purpose 
(and I think we all believe this to be true). Then 
we must admit that the shape of the womb was 
made to correspond with the shape of the end of 
the penis and for them to unite at time of service. 

After the penis enters the vagina and as it ap- 
proaches the womb which is located at the far 
inner end of the vagina it brings the womb and 
penis to a center at that point, and by the time the 
penis has reached the womb it has become enlarged 
so as to fill the space around the womb and forces 




No. s 

the two to come together in exact line and then the 
end of the penis telescopes over and around the 
neck of womb then all parts fit together per- 
fect, and the coupling is then made complete just 
as the great Ruler of this universe intended. 

The stallion then injects the semen into the 



68 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

womb proper, when the germs in the semen come 
in contact with the egg of the mare and they then 
become fertilized. Some people may dispute these 
points. However, I know them to be facts, and I 
have abundance of proof of these facts. These 
statements are not given from theory, they are from 
the knowledge from actual proof. 




No. 6 

Cut No. 6 shows the O. C. Improved Reliable 
Pregnator that is used to assist in breeding a 
dozen or more mares from one service of the 
stallion. This is done by first drawing the semen 
into the Pregnator from the vagina of one mare 
after she has been bred by the stallion. Then by 
carefully distributing the semen from the preg- 
nator into the wombs of a dozen mares or more 
they will all become in foal from that one ser- 
vice of the stallion, and if so desired the semen 
can be taken hundreds of miles and deposited into 
a mare and she will become in foal, if the semen 
is kept at a certain temperature, at about ioo de- 
grees of heat. There remains no longer a ques- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 69 



tion of doubt in this method of breeding as it has 
been successfully done thousands and thousands 

of times. 

It is impossible to live up to any one set of 
rules and make a success of the breeding business. 
One has to study the individuality of the horses in 
his charge, and this applies to both stallions and 
mares. In regard to the mares, cleanliness is the 
great essential. All instruments used in connec- 
tion with breeding operations should be thoroughly 
sterilized previous to being used and should be 
thoroughly cleaned after being used. This will 
save lots of trouble. 

Foals from Old Mares 




It is generally accepted that a mare will pro- 
duce, during her natural lifetime, from 16 to 18 
colts or more, and if we expect her to yield her 
natural production, then we must not expect her 
to begin too young. Nor, on the other hand, can 
we expect her to begin too late in life and live 
up to any such quota. 



70 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

I will here give copy of a letter received from 
Mr. J. A. Watkins of Warren, Ark., who owns 
the colt and its sire shown in the above cut. 

A Mare of Great Conformation 

Warren Ark., Sept. 2, 1913. 

Mr. O. Crittenden, 

Ashland, O. 

Dear Sir: — Responsive to your favor of recent 
date I am enclosing a picture of Dolly Dunn, aged 
35 years and the only foal she ever produced, and 
Clay Gentry, its sire. This mare was turned to Clay 
Gentry on May 30, 1912, and the colt was foaled 
on May 15, 1913. The mare is 35 years old, and 
there can be no doubt as to her age for she has 
been in the family 31 years. She was bought by 
J. W. Falls of Memphis, Tenn., when she was 
four years old, and he kept her 22 years and then 
gave her to his sister, Mrs. J. S. Dunn, of War- 
ren, Ark., who has had her in Warren, Ark., 9 
years. The mare was in Matinee races in Mem- 
phis 30 years ago. The colt is a very classy look- 
ing youngster and will be allowed to go as a stal- 
lion. His sire, Clay Gentry, is 6 years old. His 
grandsire, John R. Gentry, is 22 years old. His 
great grandsire, Ashland Wilkes, is 30 years old, 
making four generations living. 

Very truly yours, 
J. A. Watkins. 

Below is a list of old mares that have produced 
foals at ages ranging from 25 to 33 years old. 

Miss Russell, the dam of Maud S., died at the 
age of 33 years after producing 18 foals. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 71 

Nettie King dropped he 16th foal in 191 3, at the 
age of 27, and again in foal. 

Bertha, died at the age of 27 after producing 
19 foals. 

Missouri Maid, in foal at the age of 2.7. 

Jessie Pepper dropped her 18th foal at the age 
of 28. 

Brown Silk dropped her 16th foal at the age 
of 23 and again in foal. 

Waterwitch died at the age of 28 after produc- 
ing 18 foals. 

Beautiful Bills died at the age of 25 after pro- 
ducing 18 foals. 

Sally Feagles, produced a colt at the age of 33, 
the cover of her own son. 

Cyclone died in foal at the age of 29. 

Minnie Chester in foal at the age of 30. 

Jessie, by Bates Emperor, produced a foal at 
the age of 33. 

Easter, by Trample, at 26 

Primrose, by Abdallah, at 28. 

Green Mountain Maid at 25. 

Minnehaha at 2j. 

Fanny Jackson at 26. 

Maid of Clay at 25. 

Sally Brass, by Geo. Wilkes, at 26. 

Madline, by Hamiltonian 10, at 26. 

Sorrento by Grand Sentinal, at 2J. 

Wilhelmina 2:111-4 was first bred at 2 years 
old and produced her 16th foal at 20 years old. 

Korez S., now in foal at the age of 25. 

A great many breeders consider a mare at the 
age of 20 too old to breed, while if in good healthy 



72 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

condition they are of the very best type for a 
brood mare. Kindness and care has much to do 
with our brood mares if we expect them to pro- 
duce 16 or 20 foals during their natural life time. 

Twin Foals — Mule and Horse. 

An account of the unusual production of a mule 
and a horse foal as twins is thus recorded by E. 
E. Morgan, Massac Co., 111. : 

" Nathan McBride brought one mare to my 
breeding barn and bred her several times to the 
jack. She failed to settle and July 29 he brought 
her back and asked me to serve her with both the 
jack and my Percheron horse, which I did. On 
June 18, 1912, Mr. McBride went to the pasture 
and found one bay mare mule, also one sorrel 
horse colt foaled by the same mare. The height 
of the mule colt w r as 34 inches ; the horse colt 
was 32 inches. This is certainly a fact as I went 
out to his farm and saw them for myself, and 
when I got there there were twenty-five or thirty 
persons already there to see this sight. Mr. Mc- 
Bride is a farmer whose word is accepted by all 
who know him. ,, 

Such an occurrence is of course due to the fact 
that the mare developed two ova, one of which was 
fertilized by a spermatozoa from the jack while 
the other happened to unite with a spermatozoa 
from the horse. There is nothing strange or freak- 
ish about this case. It merely is not common. 
Dog breeders know that bitches when lined with 
two different dogs will produce some pups sired 
by one dog and some sired by the other. The 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 73 

mare in question had ripened two ova and both 
would likely have been fertilized by either the 
stallion or the jack, had only a single service been 
allowed. Xo one can tell how it happened that 
each ova met a different fertilizing germ. 

The effect after Producing a Mule 

I have often been asked the question as to mares 
not getting in foal from a stallion after she has 
produced mules. 

It is all wrong to suppose that mares will not 
breed to a horse after having foaled mules. It is 
equally erroneous to believe that any " taint " or 
" impression " is left from conception to the ser- 
vice of a jack, so that the future foals by a horse 
will be marked for the jack. That old bugaboo 
of an idea should be gotten out of your head. 

This has been perfectly disproved by the elab- 
orate experiments of Prof. Cossar Ewart of 
Scotland and by other scientists, who mated ponies 
and zebras in every possible combination, but 
without obtaining one pure horse colt afterward 
that showed any trace of zebra markings. Breed 
the mares to good stallions and they will conceive 
and bring forth pure horse colts showing no mark- 
ings of the mule. 



74 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



CARE OF THE COLT AFTER FOALING 

IN speaking of the foal before it comes into 
the world, and after. The man that neg- 
lects to look after his mares at foaling time, 
which very often needs care of the man (who 
should be in attendance) to save the life of the 
new born foal, is the man who does not read the 
Stock Journals to get the experience or valuable 
information along this line, from men who look 
after their brood mares and foals, and has every 
thing in readiness for them when needed. It is 
generally the man back on the farm that has the 
largest per cent, of loss of foals. They are lost 
Tor the very reason that they are careless in mak- 
ing preperations for their arrival, and in the way 
their mares are handled before she foals. Some 
farmers at foaling time leave their mares tied 
in the stable with other horses and are allowed 
to cast their foals there. The little foal in their first 
effort to get up is apt to slide around and get 
under some of the other horses in the same stable 
and are often trampled to death, and again the 
new born foal often need the care of the man in 
charge, that it does not smother in the sack. 
Sometimes the foal will come weak and needs help 
that it may soon get to the mare and obtain her milk. 

Mare's First Milk 

If the foal obtains the mare's first milk that 
will ordinarily arouse its digestive tract to suf- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 75 

ficient activity, but if this remains sluggish for as 
much as twenty-four hours it will be necessary to 
administer a couple of ounces of castor oil, or give 
soapy injections. These two points in the care of 
foals cannot safely be neglected. 

At foaling time it is better to let the mare have 
her own way. Nature is a great caretaker, and 
many a nervous mare loses her foal because the man 
in charge tries to give her too much assistance at 
this important period. Of course, there are times 
when a mare must have assistance, especially when 
the foal comes wrong, but whenever things move 
right, the less people there are around the more 
successful is the foaling. Xature has provided even 
young mares with an instinct that enables them 
to sever the naval string in a proper manner and 
much better than man. I like to have the mare in 
a place where I can observe her without her 
knowing it, for if she thinks there are others 
around, either men or horses, she may become 
nervous and not attend to her duties as she should 
and as nature intended. 

There are dozens of little things about a breed- 
ing farm that must be attended to, but common 
sense will dictate the answer to the most of the 
questions that arise. Always bear in mind, that 
Xature is much wiser than man and that in their 
natural state, mares pass through the foal period 
with little trouble. The great trouble is that mares 
are kept in a state removed from the natural one, 
and that the result is that we have to make allow- 
ances accordingly. After the foal has arrived, it 
sometimes happens that the mare will not own her 



76 



THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



own colt and will not take care of it. This hap- 
pens more often when there has been assistance 
at the birth. In such rare instances, the ^olt 
should be brought to the mother and the latter 
must be forced to own it and mother it. 

After the colt is a week old the most critical 
time is passed and if the weather is favorable you 
may turn mare and foal into the pasture. If there 
are other mares and colts in the field, care must 
be taken that the mother sticks to its own colt. 




Sometimes they display a fondness for the colt be- 
longing to some other mare and often it is nec- 
essary to place the mare and colt in a separate 
paddock. 

One in a small grass paddock, shaded by a few 
trees and near the watchful eye of the master, is 
a good place for the mare and foal to be during 
fine weather, and in a large box stall they should 
spend the time while storms endure. The out- 
doors — the fresh green grass — the fresh air and 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 77 

plenty of water and shade are the ingredients that 
go to make good colts. Grass, yes grass, and if 
possible more and better grass — that is the stuff 
for the mare and her foal. If you are not in a 
land of natural and abundant grass, why, make 
grass. That, fortunately, is easy. Feed the pas- 
ture. Use the manure spreader, use limestone, 
use phosphorous, use bone. If bone is not in the 
soil, it will not be in the grass. If bone is not in 
the grass, it will not come very abundantly to the 
colt. So put bone-meal on your colt pastures. 

Another thing to keep in mind is to accustom 
colts to strange sights and sounds as early in life 
as possible — automobiles, autocycles, trolley cars, 
trains, etc. If a pasture can be used near such 
objects, it will be a good thing. If not, take the 
young animals as often as possible where such 
things can be seen and heard. Such treatment will 
tell greatly in the ease with which colts become 
" road-wise " when put into the harness. 

In the early care of the colt, then, we must be 
careful to accomplish two things. We must keep 
him growing rapidly and we must be getting him 
used to being handled, so that when he is put to 
harness later he will have confidence in his master. 

Raising Colts for Profit 

No man can afford to grow a colt and not care 
for it properly the first winter. If properly cared 
for the first winter, allowed all the pasture it 
wants the next summer, and given any sort of 
decent treatment, the second winter, its develop- 
ment is reasonably sure. Don't spoil it all now by 



78 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

sudden weaning, by too close confinement, by an 
improperly balanced ration. 

The feeding and care of the sucking colt are 
rather simple. The feeding should be done mainly 
through the mother. Feed her liberally, especially 
if she be at work, and let the feed be rich in milk 
forming substances. If it be convenient, a good 
pasture is the best place for both mare and colt. 
If you have a colt, of which you are proud, don't 
tie it up in the stable in the winter and feed it 
corn and your best timothy hay, depriving it of 
exercise. You can make it fat and sleek and plump 
in this way; but you don't grow colts for fat. You 
grow them for muscle, and you cannot develop 
muscle without exercise. 

Shall the colt follow its mother as she walks in 
the plow or cultivator? No, emphatically no. 
Leave the colt in the cool and shaded orchard, or 
in the quiet box stall. Take the mare to it at 
least once in the middle of the half day and let it 
suck while she rests. Do not hurry her back to her 
task, either. Very soon both mother and foal will 
become resigned to this system of living and 
neither will fret much. The colt will be nibbling 
the grass, even munching oats instead of wearily 
plodding the endless corn rows with its mother, 
under a too ardent sun. Is it best that the mare 
should work? No, it is better that she should give 
all her energy to making milk for her foal, but this 
is not always practicable on the general farm. 

The foal soon learns to eat. The earlier he 
learns to eat oats the better, and the more he 
eats of them while sucking his dam, the better. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 79 

Add wheat bran to the oats. The bran has a lot of 
bone in it, and truly marvelous will be the effect 
on the young and fast developing animal. Gain 
made then, during babyhood, will assuredly never 
be lost. Xor can ground lost then by neglect be 
regained. Wonderful is the effect of feed on the 
frame of the baby horse. The first two years fix 
the bone framework — no subsequent feeding can 
materially alter it — and the first six months give 
an impetus toward development absolutely essen- 
tial if the highest results are to be reached. Feed 
the mare, then, and as early as you can feed the 
foal, too. Then will " weaning time " be passed 
by so easily that neither groom, nor foal, nor mare 
will regard it as more than a trifling incident. 

Train the Foal 

Training should begin as soon as the colt is foaled. 
Its first impression of man should be that man is its 
friend. The colt should be so treated that when the 
man in charge of its dam goes to the paddock, the 
foal will come up to him without fear of harm. 
This training is very important, as this part of the 
colt's life has a lot to do with how it will be weaned 
and broken. 

There is always a period of wet or bad weather 
when a few hours can be well spent in teaching the 
young animal the meaning of the . halter and the 
leading strap. 

The training of domestic animals should begin 
when they are young. Growth and training should 
proceed together. In training animals, strategy will 
prove better than brute force. Habit is with animals 



80 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

as with man, an iron-handed master. Animals de- 
signed for various purposes may be trained until 
their functions are performed as a mere habit. In 
fixing habits, great care must be used that bad habits 
are not taught. All animals of high breeding are 
highly nervous in temperaments, but learn readily 
and remember well. 

A habit, whether vicious or otherwise, once 
learned, will be returned to or practiced by such an 
animal long after it is supposed to have been for- 
gotten. " Good Spirits " in all kinds and breeds of 
animals, is a significant term, and is well under- 
stood by all competent herdsmen and should be pre- 
served. This condition cannot be maintained in any 
animal when not properly trained, fed and cared 
for. Even a prize brood sow or boar should have 
good spirits, an elastic step, a quick, gentle eye/ and 
handle well when before the judges at the show 
ring. It requires training to produce a good show 
animal. Disposition, kindliness, action and appear- 
ances all count in the show ring, and may all be 
greatly improved by good training on the part of 
the herdsman who has charge of the animal exhibit. 

At this point we want to say we make a great 
mistake to think any sort of a man will do to work 
with the colts. Sometimes we say, " Oh, he is a 
green man, just put him in the colt barn." Now, 
the actual truth is, there are few, and very few, 
men fit to work with colts, therefore, we should 
pick out the very best, sober, quiet, easy going, 
mild tempered and soft voiced men to put with the 
colts. 

Teach the colt these three cardinal principles: 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 81 

First, that man is stronger than he; next, that man 
is to be obeyed; then that the man is his best 
friend. How will you best do this? 

While the foal is very young and very ignorant, 
catch him, putting one hand at his breast and one 
hand behind and hold him gently, letting it see 
how much stronger you are than he. Repeat this 
lesson now and then. The colt will never forget; 
he will instinctively associate you with the idea of 
great and irresistible strength. While he is young, 
break him to halter. There is no other time so 
good. 

Then be good to him. Take him some dainty he 
likes to eat when you go near him. As in man 
the way to a colt's heart is through his stomach. 
Take time to fondle him, let him love you, but do 
not let him become in any way unpleasantly familiar. 
See that while he loves you he at all times im- 
plicitly respects you. 

Then some day when it becomes time for that colt 
to be harnessed, there will be no " breaking " 
needed, only getting used to feel of the harness, the 
pressure of the collar, the rattle of the wheels. 
Their keepers can easily spoil the new-born foals 
upon the farm — may make them or may mar them. 
It is easy to build them up brave and bony and 
strong — it is easy to stunt and starve and maim. 
Let us make them good. Let us bury the barbed- 
wire under the sod; let us put the babies and their 
mothers half-knee deep in strong grass all starred 
with clovers. Let us give shade and nourishing 
tidbits and wise, loving care, and when it becomes a 
horse it will not forget the lessons it learned while 
young. 



82 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

One of the first essentials in early training is to 
bring the animal to depend upon the herdsman. 
Food, water, care and training should mainly be 
performed by one person. A feeling of dependence 
instead of independence should be cultivated. There 
should be a strong friendship, a familiar acquaint- 
ance, and the fullest confidence of the animal. The 
dog, our best-trained animal, comes at his master's 
bidding; is held in check by his voice without halter 
or rope, and obeys a beck or signal, even when ex- 
cited or impatient. The same may be done with the 
horse or other animals with the same long- con- 
tinued pains and care, the same friendly feeling, 
the same fondling and interchanging of love and 
affection. 

There need be no fear of unreturned affection. 
All of our domestic animals love naturally the hand 
that cares for them and the voice that calls them. 
One-half of the labor required in caring for them is 
accomplished when the animals have confidence in 
and also have a thorough understanding with the 
herdsman. Such confidence is always sought by 
good, capable herdsmen, men who understand all 
of the influence governing animals, no matter how 
well and thoroughly they may be trained. 

Thus is there need of kindness and care. The 
mothers of them well know this. They are full of 
maternal solicitude and their behavior with their 
great babies is most beautiful to see. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 83 



KINDNESS TO THE HORSE 

THERE are four things that are very cheap 
and are not used enough in handling live 
stock — kindness, sunshine, fresh air and pure 
water. These are all necessary, but perhaps the 
one used less and worth more in maintaining live 
stock is kindness. Animals that are not abused or 
afraid of their master will live on less feed, thrive 
better and are usually more easily handled. On 
many farms, horses, especially, are abused and 
roughly handled when it is not necessary. There are 
many hired hands handling live stock that cost 
their employer more money by their coarse method 
of handling live stock than their salaries amount to. 

When one visits a farm and all of the live stock 
is gentle, so that they can be easily approached, and 
glad to see their master, it is evidence that they 
are getting full value for their feed. But where 
animals are excited and jump every time they are 
spoken to, or something moves, the digestive organs 
are not working as nature intended. A horse is of 
a highly nervous temperament, perhaps more so 
than any other animal. Horses must be handled 
firmly, but at the same time kindness is a necessity. 

While the horse cannot speak, he shows intelli- 
gence and greatness, and that should raise the horse 
in the estimation of man. It should be an object 
lesson to people who have to do with man's noblest 
friend, the horse. It preaches a powerful sermon 
on what kindness means to our dumb animals, and 
what it will accomplish when rightly applied. 



84 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

KINDNESS TO THE HORSE SHOWS 
GREATNESS IN MAN. When a horse's useful 
strength is gone, do not turn him out to starve, 
freeze and die, but care for him as you would wish 
to be cared for. He has served his useful days for 
you and now deserves care and kindness until that 
time may come for him to die in a peaceful and 
natural way. 

Feeding the old Horse 

The old horse does not always receive the proper 
attention in regard to feed. The condition of the 
teeth of old animals makes it imperative that this 
point be not neglected. The old horse cannot masti- 
cate some kinds of food, especially corn, thoroughly, 
nor can he eat his ration in as short a time as can 
a young animal whose teeth are sound. So, unless 
some ground grain is provided for him and he is 
given sufficient time to eat his meals when worked 
he will fail to get the full benefit of his food, and 
in a short time will begin to lose flesh and strength. 
It is especially important that the proper attention 
be given to this matter. When the horse begins to 
grow old, give him just as good care as you did 
when he was young and he will more than pay for 
his feed and care by the work which he can per- 
form. He cannot make as good a showing as his 
younger mates, perhaps, but this should not be ex- 
pected. 

Good Horse Sense ; The Prayer 
of a Horse 

To thee, my master, I offer my prayer: Feed me, 
water and care for me, and when the day's work is 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 85 

done, provide me with shelter, a clean, dry bed, 
and a stall wide enough for me to lie down in com- 
fort. 

Always be kind to me. Talk to me. Your voice 
often means as much to me as the reins. Pet me 
sometimes, that I may serve you the more gladly 
and learn to love you. Do not jerk the reins, and 
do not whip me when going up hill. Never strike, 
beat or kick me when I do not understand what 
you want, but give me a chance to understand you. 
AYatch me, and if I fail to do your bidding see if 
something is not wrong with my harness or feet. 

Do not check me so that I can not. have the free 
use of my head. If you insist that I wear blinders 
so that I can not see behind me as it was intended 
I should, I pray you be careful that the blinders 
stand well out from my eyes. 

Do not overload me or hitch me where water 
will drip on me. Keep me well shod. Examine my 
teeth when I do not eat; I may have an ulcerated 
tooth, and that, you know, is very painful. Do not 
tie my head in an unnatural position or take away 
my best defense against flies and mosquitoes by 
cutting off my tail. 

I can not tell you when I am thirsty, so give me 
cool, clean water often. Save me by all means in 
your power from that fatal disease — the glanders. 
I can not tell you in words when I am sick, so watch 
me, that by signs you may know my condition. Give 
me all possible shelter from the hot sun, and put a 
blanket on me, not when I am working, but when 
I am standing in the cold. Never put a frosty bit 



86 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

in my mouth; first warm it by holding it a moment 
in your hands. 

I try to carry you and your burdens without a 
murmur, and wait patiently for you, long hours of 
the day or night. Without the power to choose my 
shoes or path I sometimes fall on the hard pave- 
ments, which I have often prayed might not be of 
wood, but of such a nature as to give me a safe 
and sure footing. Remember that I must be ready 
at any moment to lose my life in your service. 

And finally, O my master, when my useful 
strength is gone, do not turn me out to starve or 
freeze, or sell me to some cruel owner, to be slowly 
tortured or starved to death, but do thou, my master, 
take my life in the kindest way, and your God 
will reward you here and hereafter. You will not 
consider me irreverent if I ask this in the name of 
Him who was born in a stable. 

Weaning the Foals 

It will soon be time to wean the foals, and as 
there may be some small breeders who are readers 
of this book that are raising their first foal, and 
have never had experience in weaning foals, a few 
suggestions on that subject may not be out of place. 

After the foal comes, and the weather is favor- 
able, the best place for both mare and her foal is 
in the pasture field, as that is the nearest to nature. 
In a short time the foal should be taught to eat 
grain. It will very readily learn this by feeding 
the mare, and when weaning time is here he is 
prepared for that. 

Many breeders prefer to wean the foals of such 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 87 

mares as are regular breeders, when the foal is 
four months old, but on some breeding establish- 
ments the foals are allowed to run with their dams 
until five months old. 

Small breeders who raise but two or three foals a 
year should have a strong but pliable and well fitted 
head halter for each foal, and have the youngsters 
so thoroughly halter-broken that each will stand 
quietly when hitched in a single stall. 

The foal should be kept growing every day and 
even during the weaning period. 

The weaning of the foal should not be attempted 
until it is ascertained that he is capable of main- 
taining himself. The age at which this may take 
place will be much affected by circumstances and 
beyond the foregoing no hard and fast rule can be 
laid down. Though probably in the majority of 
cases from four to six months is most suitable, this 
must be subject to considerable variation. For the 
mare and the foal it is better to do the weaning 
gradually than suddenly, the mare's diet being some- 
what curtailed during the process, and so easing of 
her milk, which is also favored by prolonged inter- 
vals of absence from the foal, and incomplete with- 
drawal of milk. 

It should be our aim, during the entire colthood 
of the animal, to make him thoroughly familiar 
with mankind, and to keep him growing rapidly. 
This is an important point. The rapidity of growth 
determines to a very large extent the ultimate size 
of the animal. An animal half starved in youth can 
never be exceptionally large. 

A very successful and easy way to wean a colt is, 



88 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

take a strap four to six inches long drive a dozen 
flat head nails about three-fourths of an inch long 
through this strap, then rivet it onto the nose strap 
of the colt's halter, let the mare and colt run to- 
gether and in a short time the mare will have the 
colt weaned. The mare should be milked, say a 
couple of times a day, gradually making the periods 
between times longer, and in this way the colt will 
soon be weaned and neither mare nor colt will make 
any fuss about it. 

Having weaned the colt, what next? Keep it 
growing right straight along. You can do this by 
using a properly balanced ration and giving it plenty 
of exercise. Give it good shelter in winter during 
stormy weather. Allow it to graze as soon as there 
is grass to be had in the meadow or pasture, or 
corn blades in the corn field; but keep it growing. 
Of course, you must feed it a balanced ration. The 
grain that is nearest balanced in itself is oats. If 
your colt has been well bred and has had no set- 
back, it will pay you market price for oats, no mat- 
ter what that price is. 

Raising an Orphan Foal 

Sometime you may have an occasion to raise an 
orphan colt, and you may not be familiar as to how 
to proceed in a task of that kind. A colt is much 
harder to get started than a calf. It requires con- 
stant watching for some time, and it should be fed 
often. 

Cows' milk may be used for orphan colt raising, 
provided it is poor in fat, from a fresh cow, well 
sweetened with sugar, and having lime water added 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 89 

at the rate of one ounce per pint. Feed it in 
small quantities often and be careful to keep the 
milk utensils clean. 

The milk should be from a comparatively fresh 
cow that does not give rich milk. One should use 
about one-fourth as much water as milk and add 
one dessertspoonful of common white sugar to 
each pint of the mixture. Limewater is useful to 
correct acidity of the stomach, prevent scours and 
probably to aid in the production of strong bone; 
at least foals thrive better on artificial feed if lime- 
water is given. It is well to make a quantity of 
limewater, using a chunk of quicklime. This is 
slaked with water and then more water is added to 
that. After the sediment settles one dips out of 
the top of the vessel for the foal, adding more 
water as the original supply is used. As long as 
there is a distinct sediment in the bottom of the 
vessel the liquid above will be a saturated solution, 
and that is what is wanted. 

In mixing the feed for the colt, it is probably 
best to use about three tablespoonfuls of limewater 
to the pint. The sugar should be thoroughly dis- 
solved, and a good way to prepare it is to put the 
sugar into the cup first and add enough hot water 
to dissolve it. Then add the limewater and enough 
water to make one-fifth of a pint; put in enough 
fresh milk to make a pint altogether and warm to 
blood heat. For a foal a week old feed every 
hour and a half, half a pint at a time is enough to 
give. For a foal just born, give half that much and 
feed every hour. If it does not scour or show 
other signs of digestive troubles the amount should 



90 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

be increased. As it grows older it may also be fed 
at longer intervals and after a few weeks the lime- 
water and sugar may be tapered off and dis- 
continued. 

The colt will almost surely get scours at some 
time even with the most careful feeding. If indica- 
tions of this are seen in time, substitute water for 
milk for one feed and then reducing the amount fed 
for a time will check it. If not caught in time to 
avoid trouble, feed as described and give a dose of 
castor oil, 2 ounces for a very young foal and 3 or 4 
for one a month old. 

Use such agents as whisky to keep up the strength 
of the colt with subnitrate of bismuth or pre- 
pared chalk to allay the irritation of the bowels. 
Small doses of laudanum may be given if the dis- 
charges become watery and there is much straining, 
but one should be careful not to check the bowels 
too quickly. Always be careful that the colt is 
kept in a warm, sanitary place with the proper ex- 
posure to sunlight. 

For feeding the foal a nipple may be used on a 
bottle or a nipple, rag or glove ringer attached to the 
spout of an old teapot. It can soon be taught to 
drink from a pail and may take to this quite 
naturally. The colt should be encouraged to eat 
grain, hay and grass at an early age and should be 
regularly fed all the oats and bran it will eat. 
When it is two or three months old the milk may 
be gradually changed to sweet skim-milk and by that 
time there is not very much danger of overfeeding. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 91 

Teaching to Lead 

For the benefit of some amateur breeders, I will 
here give a very quick and easy way to break a 
stubborn colt or horse to lead. 

Take a J^-inch rope or cord about 25 feet long, at 
one end of the rope tie a small iron ring, put that 
end around the body just in front of the hips, put 
the rope through the ring so as to form a slipping 
noose and when it is tightened the ring will be at 
the flank giving more purchase in tightening. Then 
run the rope between the front legs and up through 
the ring in the halter. Take hold of the rope and 
pull steady so as to tighten around the body and 
after a short time he will begin to pull back then 
rear up and lunge forward. He is then ready to 
follow you for fear it be repeated. 

Fall Foals 

It is claimed by many breeders and farmers of 
experience that the fall foal will do better than the 
one coming in spring. 

One advantage at least in having the foal to 
come in the fall is that the mare will not have so 
much work and heat to endure during the lactation 
period and that she will be in a better condition to 
supply more nourishment to the foal. The special 
advantage at this season will be that the mare will 
not likely become excessively heated at work, and 
hence the digestion of the foal is not apt to be 
deranged. 

Where the mare is bred in the fall the time should 
be delayed so that the foal will come after most of 
the flies have died, as many flies biting a young 



92 . THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



animal will worry it and cause it to become stunted 
sooner than anything else. Also, as soon as the 
fall foals begin to eat solid food, it should be en- 
couraged and fed liberally so that it will grow 
and be in good flesh for the coldest part of winter. 
Provide it and the mare with a warm and dry 
stall during the winter, and feed some bran and 
oats regularly to furnish milk forming material 
mineral matter for good frame. 

Good mares are scarce and their produce valuable, 
come when they will. Many of these fresh mares 
will very readily get in foal nine or ten days after 
colt is weaned and raise a good fall colt. Some 
condemn fall colts, saying they are too much 
trouble and no good. If you are fixed for fall colts, 
having good, big, roomy box stalls, you can raise a 
fall colt almost as cheaply and with far less trouble 
than a spring colt. The colts that give us the least 
trouble are fall colts, either sold off. of mare in 
spring or turned on good fresh grass, then you 
ought to see them grow, with some grain, of course. 
Mares are not doing much during the winter months, 
so that they and their colts can run in lot in nice 
weather and in box stall the rest of the time. 
Understand, mares that are good sucklers will raise 
fall colts best. You will also need to supply some 
of the lack of pasture with bran mashes once a day, 
clover hay, a little silage (very little), oil meal 
and anything that will increase the milk flow. 

There are certain mares that do better with fall 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 93 

colts. First, very heavy sticklers; second, mares 
that have to work very hard during the summer; 
third, every other year breeders will allow you a 
colt between. 

A fall colt gets a year's growth without any 
interference. When it is old enough to wean it 
goes on grass and keeps on growing. 



94 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



WATERING THE HORSE 

ANOTHER matter about which much diversity 
of opinion exists, is how and when to water 
the horse. 
''' When a horse is thirsty, he wants a drink." 
This is probably the very best guide for the at- 
tendant and certainly an acceptable one to the 
animal itself. 

They All Want What They Want When They 

Want It 

There is a great deal of exaggerated fear about 
watering horses when warm. When a large amount 
of perspiration has been secreted while working, it 
leaves the system parched. A pail or two of water 
of moderate temperature is the best thing that can 
be given, and ordinarily they should have it at once. 
So long as precautions are taken to have the chill 
off, it will not hurt him in the least, but, rather, 
refresh him in his work and prepare him to enj oy 
his feed. 

We might compare the horse to ourselves in this 
matter. The horse is man's noblest friend and 
should be treated as such. More than that, he 
should have special attention. We will take for an 
illustration the horse at harvest time, when the 
weather is very hot. He works all day in the hot 
sun and gets a drink of water only morning, noon 
and night, we work right along with him and get 
a drink of cool water a dozen times a day or more, 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 95 

and feel refreshed from it, and feel more able for 
our work. All the horse gets for his work is the 
treatment we give him. The horse deserves the 
very best of treatment that man is able to give him. 
We can afford to make special efforts for his com- 
fort. Be kind and thoughtful with him. 

A variety of factors must unite in keeping horse 
flesh in good shape. Judgment in working and in- 
creasing or diminishing the allowance of heavy 
feed, regularity in time of feeding and working, also, 
as far as practicable, frequency of watering, and 
care in fitting harness — in a word, that rare quality 
called " common sense " — are the secrets in main- 
taining the teams in presentable shape and strong 
working condition. Some one has said : " It is not 
so much what you feed as how you feed it," common 
sense without oats being better than oats without 
sense. 



96 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



UNWISE DRIVERS SPOIL HORSES 

IT is to be feared that there are a good many 
people who, either by reason of their bad or 
careless driving, succeeded in spoiling a horse 
which came to them as free from vice or tricks as 
could be desired. A horse which by nature is not 
a shier can easily be transformed into something- 
very like one by being unmercifully thrashed if he 
becomes startled at some unfamiliar sight. The 
next time he encounters anything of the kind he 
remembers his thrashing and associates the sight 
with suffering; then he shies again, and the punish- 
ment is repeated, with disastrous effects. 

The man who is careless about his harness, and 
who allows his horse to drive himself, will spoil any 
animal and he is as likely to end up by getting the 
horse down as not; but this observation must not 
be taken as suggesting that a driver should always 
be fidgeting and worrying his horse. His aim should 
be to get the animal to go right and keep him at it; 
it is often the slovenly coachman who produces the 
ill-mannered horse. 

In frequent cases it is the driver's fault when a 
horse stumbles, but even when it is not so it is quite 
unnecessary to use the whip in nine cases out of 
ten. If the horse once begins to connect a stumble 
with a thrashing he gets flurried when he puts a 
foot wrong, and is very likely to come down in con- 
sequence; but if he gets careless it is necessary to 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 97 

wake him up by a light stroke, just to remind him 
that he must keep awake. 

Of course the jagging at a horse's mouth is as 
certain a way to ruin the animal as anything from 
good practice to shout at and berate a horse for no 
particular fault. 

A naturally timid animal is liable to lose its head 
on such occasions, while a bad tempered one resents 
it, for horses are not fools, and are far more 
amiable to kindness combined with firmness than 
they are to ill usage or violence of any kind. This 
being the case, it is unfortunate that their memories 
should be so good, for the recollection of chastise- 
ment has often transformed an ordinarily tempered 
horse into a perfect savage, and a good reliable 
worker into a useless brute. 

If the nature of the horse were better understood 
he could be more easily trained and accidents would 
be of less frequent occurrence. 



98 



THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



HIGH PRICES PAID FOR HORSES 



Arion, 2 :07% $125,000 

Axtell, 2:12 105,000 

Director, 2 :17 75,000 

Dan Patch, 1:55*4 65,000 

Red Wilkes (t) 60,000 

Anteeo, 2 :16y 2 55,000 



IT is indeed remarkable the prices realized for a 
number of the more prominent members of the 
light harness horse industry and in order to 
give our readers some conception of the inde- 
pendent fortunes exchanged in this branch of the 
business. 

Baden, 2:05% $30,000 

Jay Gould, 2 :2iy 2 30,000 

Cochato, 3, 2 :liy 2 30,000 

Lady Thorn, 2 :181a 30,000 

Blackwood, 2:21% 30,000 

Prince Wilkes, 2:14%.. 30,000 

Ralph Wilkes, 2:06%.. 30,000 

Pancoast, 2 :21% 28,000 

The Hangman 28,000 

Go. Sprague, 2:20y 2 .. 27,500 

Patron, 2:14% 27,500 

Constantine, 2:12% ... 27,000 

Sidney, 2:19% 2T,000 

The Abbott, 2:03% 26,500 

Mascot, 2 :04 26,000 

Alcazar 25,800 

Onward Silver, 2.05%.. 25,000 

Wig Wag 25,000 

SterlingMcKinney,2 :06% 25,000 

Cresceus, 2 :02% 25,000 

Voodoo 24,100 

Nutwood, 2 :18% 22,000 

Axworthy, 2:15V 2 21,000 

Allie Wilkes, 2 :15 20,000 

Bob Douglas, 2:04%... 20,000 

Judge Fullerton 20,000 

Prospero 20,000 

Clingstone, 2 :19% 20,000 

Harry Wilkes, 2:14%.. 20,000 

Monte Carlo, 2:07%... 20,000 

Tommy Britton, 2:06%. 20,000 

St. Julien, 2:11% 20,000 

Soprano 20,000 



51,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
45,000 
45,000 



Bell Boy, 2:19% ( 

McKinney, 2:11% 

Stamboul, 2:07% (*).. 

Dare Devil, 2:09 

Hamburg Belle, 2:01% 
The Harvester, 2:01. . . 
Robt. McGregor, 2 :17V 2 
Wilton, 2:19% (t).... 
Allen Winter, 2:06%.. 
Nancy Hanks, 2:04... 
Minor Heir, 1:59%. . . 

Sunol, 2:08% 41,000 

Bingen, 2:06% (*)... 40,000 
Major Delmar, 1:59%. 40,000 

Acolyte, 2 :21 40,000 

Billy Burke, 2:03%... 40,000 
Fearnaught, 2 :23'% . . . 40,000 

Maud S., 2 :08% 40,000 

Smuggler, 2:15% .... 40,000 

Sultan 40,000 

Pocahontas 40,000 

Rarus, 2:13% 36,000 

Antevolo, 2 :19y 2 35,000 

Uhlan, 2:02% 35,000 

Siliko, 3, 2:11% 35,000 

Dexter, 2 :17% 33,000 

Goldsmith Maid, 2:14. 32,000 
Todd, 2 :14% 32,000 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 99 



CONTROLLING SEX 

MUCH has been written upon the subject of 
controlling sex. I have been interested in 
the different articles written upon this sub- 
ject that have appeared in the Horse Journals from 
time to time. It is not remarkable. Yet it is plaus- 
ible to believe that this can be accomplished. It 
might seem like taking that power in our own 
hands. Yet we are given wisdom that we might ac- 
complish great things. In these days when we 
talk on wires, send messages through the air, and 
soar above the earth on wings, nothing would be 
impossible. I will not take this matter up expecting 
to show facts. What I have to say on this subject 
will not be from knowledge gained from experience, 
it will only be as theory. It is claimed that all 
things were made for a purpose. If this be true, 
then we should claim the right to say, this can be 
done. We know that there is the male and female 
in all families of the animal kingdom, and that 
nature has provided that all males have two testicles. 
We might style them as the male and female 
testicles. Why not? Would it not be natural to 
suppose that each was made for a separate purpose, 
one to produce a male germ, the other a female 
germ. If they were not for a separate purpose, why 
should there be any use for more than one. I 
would like to hear of some breeder testing this out. 
I think the quickest way to test it would be with 
the swine, remove one testicle, then breed and note 
results. 



100 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



SALT 

IF a horse is fed a small amount of salt every 
evening, there will seldom be a case of colic or 
any kind of disease. Regular salting keeps up 
good action of the kidneys, and that is what car- 
ries off the poison from the body, and then horses 
will seldom contract any kind of disease. 

All of our domestic animals require more or less 
salt and they should have it, and where they could 
have free access to it every day in the year. In 
that way they will never take too much. It is 
cheaper than colic medicine or doctor bills. Breed- 
ing animals should have salt by all means, and then 
their breeding qualities will keep in a more normal 
condition. 

Vigor Tablets, tonics or stimulants should never be 
given the stallion during the breeding season. They 
are the cause of sterility in many cases. There is no 
tonic or stimulant so good for a stallion in season or 
out of season as work in the harness and plenty of 
salt. This will increase the circulation of the blood, 
and increase all of the vital processes at the same 
time. 

I trust that my talk on the horse may be of benefit 
to my brother breeders. If it is, then I shall have 
done a part of the duty each man owes his fellow- 
man, and you and I shall feel all the better in 
return. 

Sincerely yours, 

O. CRITTENDEN. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 101 



PART TWO 



IN this part of the book I will add the space of a 
few pages to my business, " direct." That of 
which has already reached out into all parts of 
this country, and I trust that this addition may be 
of interest to you. 

" One step won't take you very far, 
YouVe got to keep on walking. 
One word won't tell the folks all you know, 
You've got to keep on talking. 

One inch won't make you very tall, 

You've got to keep on growing. 
One little book won't reach them all, 

You've got to keep 'em going." 



102 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



THE O. C. SAFETY PREGNATOR 




Invented by O. Crittenden 

BY the help of artificial means Barren Mares 
and Cows can be made to be Prolific 
Breeders. 
This Pregnator is intended to be used only on 
mares where their wombs are too closed. They are 
to hold the womb open and to assist nature. 

You will notice that each part in this cut is 
numbered and for the benefit of those who may not 
be familiar with the O. C. Safety Pregnator and 
Dilator I will explain each part by number. 
No, I is the O. C. Safety Pregnator. 
No. 2 is the Dilator. 

No. 3 is the O. C. Safety Pregnator and Di- 
lator together, just as they are to be used in placing 
the Pregnator into the womb ready for the service 
of the stallion. The Dilator is not to be used in any 
other way. The point is what dilates, it simply 
opens the womb and guides the Pregnator into 
place. 

My experience in the breeding business has been 
a school of its own, and the lessons learned through 
those years of careful study and practice in han- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 103 

dling stallions in the stud season, breeding mares 
in the breeding season, careful examining and mak- 
ing note of the conditions of all so-called barren 
mares at time of breeding, and my every-day obser- 
vations in the breeding business, led me to invent 
the O. C. Safety Pregnator and Dilator, and Preg- 
nator Extractor. My experience in using this in- 
strument gave me knowledge of what could be 




done with these mares that have been considered 
as barren and non-breeders. 

By the use of the O. C. Safety Pregnator they 
have been made to be valuable brood mares, as 
above. 

Nature intended that all breeding animals should 
be born with a normal condition of the breeding 
organs, and when nothing interferes with their de- 
velopment from birth, they should produce naturally. 
The trouble too often lies in the fact that those same 
organs have become weakened or impaired in some 
way. 

After a mare has been bred to a stallion three or 



104 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

four times during a single season and fails to get 
in foal, in a great many cases the owner of the 
mare condemns the stallion as a fault, and while 
sometimes this is true, it has been my experience 
that nine times out of ten the mares are at fault. A 
few such cases hurts the reputation of a stallion as 
a foal getter, and causes other mares to be bred to 
some other stallion. Any man that owns a stallion 
and has an O. C. Safety Pregnator will never be 
annoyed in that way. If you will just stop for one 
moment and consider the great value one would be 
to you, at their small cost, compared to the loss of 
several mares being bred to other stallions, you will 
readily see its economy. A wise man is always 
ready to do that which will promote his own best 
business interests. 

Mr. K. S. Knutsen, Toronto, S. Dak., has been 
using my Pregnators for the past five years. In 
a letter received from him, he says, " I would no 
more think of starting in the breeding season 
without a Pregnator, than I would of going hunt- 
ing without a gun." 

Worth Remembering 

Since I invented my first Pregnator in 1890, I 
have used them on hundreds of mares. I examined 
every doubtful case and made note of it at time of 
examination. 

I have made this a study, and my experience has 
given me a knowledge which no other man has who 
is placing pregnators on the market to-day. 

When a man orders a pregnator of any kind and 
has received it, and unless he has the proper direc- 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 105 

tions he has received only about one-half of what 
he should have, in order to get the best results. 

The value of ordering a pregnator from a man 
that has had long experience as a breeder and has 
invented pregnators through his own careful study, 
is that when you order a pregnator you can feel 
sure that you have the man with the experience 
behind it. 

Then should you at any time have occasion and 
want a little information on some particular point 
along that line, you then have some one of expe- 
rience to confer with free of charge. 

There are other Pregnators on the market to-day, 
some of which are offered by men that never led a 
stallion out of their stalls nor bred a mare in their 
lives, yet they send out directions for their use 
based upon theory alone. 

Theory is a grand thing in its way; experience, 
however, is far better. 

I deal herein with facts, and with facts only. The- 
ory is not enough. Nothing is proved by it. In ef- 
fect it is no better than a guess. 

We believe that human nature or instinct would 
lead almost any one to prefer a Pregnator invented 
by a man with a breeding experience to those sent 
out by persons who are uneducated in the science 
of breeding, or the requirements and use of Preg- 
nators. 

Holds it Open 

When a mare's womb is closed hard and rigid, 
there is no chance for such mare to be gotten in 
foal without the assistance of a Pregnator. By 
placing the O. C. Safety Pregnator into the 



106 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

mouth of the womb, it holds it open and at the 
same time provides a passage way through the 
pregnator and womb, where the stallions injects 
the semen directly into the womb, or breeding 
sack. There it comes in contact with the tgg of 
the female, causing her at once to become preg- 
nant. Nature has provided that the womb should 
relax during the period she is in heat, but in a 
great many cases it does not relax; therefore, 
the semen cannot enter the womb and the mare 
thus fails to become in foal, and the mare is then 
considered as barren. My experience has taught 
me that not one in fifty that are called barren 
really are barren. 

When a womb is too closed, hard and rigid, it 
becomes shrunken and dormant, and does not 
open at time of service, as nature has provided. 
When the O. C. Safety Pregnator has been placed 
in the womb it holds it open to its natural size, 
and then at time of service the coupling is made 
natural and according to nature. 

And by using the O. C. Safety Pregnator on 
such mares they will produce colts the same as 
any mare. 

Now let us stop and think a little, let us ex- 
ercise a little reason and common sense. Sup- 
pose we have a mare where her womb is so closed 
that the semen from the stallion cannot enter at 
time of service. 

Then we will use the O. C. Safety Pregnator 
on her, insert it into the womb and leave it re- 
main until after the service so as to hold it open. 
Now, if the stallion injects the semen through 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 107 

the Pregnator into the womb and breeding sack 
where it comes in contact with the egg of the 
female, then what under the shining sun is there 
to prevent that mare from getting in foal, there 
is every reason to believe she will. 

I do not claim that all of the so-called barren 
mares can be gotten in foal from the use of a Preg- 
nator. We have found mares where they were 
deformed in some parts of the breeding organs. 
We have also found mares with lacerations about 
the womb that had been caused at the time of 
last foaling. With such mares a Pregnator would 
be of no use. When a mare's womb is closed hard 
and rigid such mares can positively be gotten in foal 
from the use of a Pregnator as artificial assistance. 

The hardest proposition to overcome in breed- 
ing is the large open womb, and the only way to 
restore such to a normal condition is to treat the 
mare for the cause, and that must be done through 
the stomach, by treating her with the O. C. Abor- 
tion Remedy. This is given in the feed. It works 
on the womb, restores it to a normal condition, 
and gives it strength to close and seal itself after 
the mare has been bred. If this class of mares 
are not looked after and treated for this weak- 
ness, they will not produce as the womb will not 
have strength enough to retain the seminal fluid 
and it will pass off within a short time after the 
mare has been bred. 

Price of O. C. Safety Pregnator and Dilator 
$5.00; 25 cents more if ordered sent by Parcel 
Post, otherwise it will be sent by Express. 



108 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



THE O. C. PREGNATOR EXTRACTOR 
To Be Used With the O. C. Safety Pregnator 




THIS Extractor is something that has been of 
a long felt want to those who have used the 
O. C. Safety Pregnator, something that may 
be used to remove the Pregnator from the mare's 
womb without inserting the hand into the vulva 
after the mare has been bred. 

The instrument works so perfectly that it makes 
the O. C. Safety Pregnator even more valuable 
to breeders. 

To use this Extractor it is to be screwed onto 
the end of the Dilator Rod, inserted into the vulva 
and on in until it enters the Pregnator that was 
left remaining in the womb until after the ser- 
vice. By inserting the Extractor part way into 
the Pregnator and then lightly drawing back on 
the rod causes the Extractor to grip hold on the 
inside of the Pregnator and brings it out of the 
womb and on out of the vulva. 

The Extractor is simply to save you from in- 
serting your hand into the vulva for the Preg- 
nator after the mare has been bred. If you have 
an O. C. Safety Pregnator and have tried the 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 109 

Extractor once you would not want to be without 
one, as they work so nicely and the cost is only 
a trifle. 

It is remarkable to see how easily and nicely it 
grips hold on the inside of the Pregnator, ex- 
tracts it from the womb and brings it out of the 
vulva. 

They are made of two kinds of material. One 
is made of hard rubber and the other of aluminum. 
They are exactly alike in shape and size, and are 
provided with a soft rubber grip. In ordering state 
the kind you want. This Extractor will work the 
same in any Safety Pregnator, no matter if the Preg- 
nators are sold this year or those sold years before. 

This Extractor cannot be used with the O. C. 
Improved Reliable Pregnator. 

Full directions sent with each Extractor. 

Price of O. C. Pregnator Extractor, $1.00. 



110 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



THE O. C. IMPROVED RELIABLE 
PREGNATOR 



For Barren Mares and Cows 
Patented Nov. 7, 1911, by O. Crittenden 

ARTIFICIAL Impregnation has come to be a 
practical thing. Many of the leading breeders 
and stallion owners in this country now use 
artificial means in breeding. To keep in pace in 
breeding, we must keep up with the progress of 
the times. By the use of the O. C. Improved Re- 
liable Pregnator as artificial assistance the semen 
is taken from one mare after she has been bred 
and deposited in the wombs of a dozen or more 
mares and they will become in foal if the semen 
is properly distributed from the Pregnator into the 
wombs of that many or more. Breeders and stal- 
lion owners are using our Pregnators with the 
most positive success. When you use a Pregna- 
tor as artificial assistance in breeding you save 
your stallion from being hard run in the stud, and 
you can breed more mares and get a larger per 
cent of foals and colts of stronger constitution. 
You then make your stallion business more pro- 
fitable and mares will not have to be returned for 
a second or third service. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 1 1 1 

By having the horse billed for a certain hour each 
day, the mares can all be on hand at the hour 
stated, and in a few minutes several mares can be 
bred with a single service of the horse. 
If but two mares are to be bred, the Preg- 
nator may be used to transfer the semen from one 
mare to the other. In this way one service a day 
will suffice for serving any number of mares, and 
the stallion that is used in excess of this cannot 
be expected to render a very good account of 
himself. 

Very often a stallion is made barren caused by 
overwork in the stud. If your neighbor who owns 
a stallion uses a Pregnator as artificial assistance 
in breeding, and you continue in the old-time hit- 
or-miss method without artificial assistance, your 
neighbor will be chuckling behind your back to see 
you breeding mares two or three times each dur- 
ing the season. While he will be getting nearly 
every mare in foal the first time they are bred to 
his stallion, and your neighbor's stallion will go 
through the season full of vim and vigor and with 
a large per cent, of foals, while your stallion will 
go through the season hard run, low in vitality 
and with a smaller per cent of foals and colts of 
a weaker constitution. This should be well worth 
your consideration. There are hundreds of germs 
in one service of a stallion; one fertile germ is 
enough to impregnate a mare, and by keeping the 
semen at the same temperature it can be taken if 
desired hundreds of miles and then injected into 
the womb of another mare, and if she is in the 
proper condition she will become safe in foal. 



112 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

For a Pregnator to transfer the semen from one 
mare to the womb of another mare, there never 
was a Pregnator made that can equal the O. C. 
Improved Reliable Pregnator. It has valuable and 
necessary improvements that no other Pregnator 
ever had. 

These Pregnators are made somewhat like a 
syringe. At the pointed end is a dilator than can 
be removed for cleaning after use. The dilator 
tapers to a point, perfectly smooth, so it will not 
irritate the tender parts while being inserted into 
the womb. The pointed end is to open the womb 




No. 6 

The O. C. Improved Reliable Pregnator in 
Operation 

and guide the pregnator into place. The dilator 
has no hole at the small end, as that might be in- 
jurious to the womb while being inserted. These 
Pregnators have six holes in the sides of the dilator, 
while other makes have only one hole, and that is 
at the small pointed end. The reliable having six 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 113 

holes gives it six times the capacity for gathering 
the semen into the pregnator over and above any 
other make now in use. After the pregnator has 
been inserted into the vulva, the semen is many 
times more apt to lie at the sides of the pregnator 
than at the end. Therefore, these Pregnators can 
draw the semen from all sides, while others can 
only draw from the point. With the capacity that 
they have for gathering the semen makes it of 
more value to breeders than any Syringe Preg- 
nator made. 

BREEDING BAGS 

THE Breeding Bag if properly handled is a 
convenient thing to use, but there are things 
in connection with its use that should be 
considered. 

A breeding Bag is all right if used all right, and 
if not you will soon have a cross stallion and then 
there will be trouble. 

The O. C. Improved Reliable Pregnator can be 
inserted into the vagina and take the semen from 
there without the use of a breeding bag. 

The O. C. Improved Reliable Pregnator can be 
used on cows with just as good results as on 
mares. 



14 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



Do Not Send Your Cow to the Butcher 

thinking that she is barren, but give these Pregna- 
tors a trial, and you will feel that you have been 
paid a hundred-fold when she drops a fine, well- 
developed calf in due time. I kindly ask all 
breeders to give this matter their most careful 
consideration, and should you order an instrument 
from me you may have the benefit of my expe- 
rience for the asking. I am ready to give you all 
the information you desire in regard to the use of 
the Pregnator, and about the breeding organs of 
the so-called barren mares and cows. 

Price of O. C. Improved Reliable Pregnator 
$5.00. Send 25 cents more for postage if ordered 
sent by Parcel Post, otherwise it will be sent by 
express. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 115 



THE O. C. HUMAN PREGNATOR 




For Barren Women 

Patented Nov. 7, 1911, by O. Crittenden 

TO assist nature in the human family that all 
so-called barren women may help to multi- 
ply and replenish the earth with the sons and 
daughters of every succeeding generation, that 
each may share in that great blessing given in the 
laws of nature " A Mother." Mankind ever lifts 
the hat and bends the knee to the mother and her 
new-born babe more than to kings and queens. 

Our instrument is to assist nature by opening 
the womb and inducting the semen to the natural 
point of conception where it comes in contact with 
the egg of the female causing her to become preg- 
nant. No woman that is considered " barren " 
can become a mother without using the O. C. 
Human Pregnator as artificial assistance. 

We find a great many married couples have thus 
far during their married life been unfortunate and 
disappointed and have longed for something to 
assist them that they might become the parents of 
a lawful heir. Neither the husband or wife that 
never experienced nature's greatest charm (a new- 
born babe) can realize that happiness as does the 



116 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

father and mother with a new-born babe under 
their watchful eye. We have now placed within 
the reach of all such assistance as the O. C. Hu- 
man Pregnator, an instrument that can be relied 
upon, and I earnestly recommend that you submit 
this to your family physician for his opinion. 

This instrument is made of special material, fine 
hard rubber and full nickel silvered brass, being 
entirely antiseptic and each one carefully inspected. 
They can be easily used and will be sent with full 
directions in plain unmarked package upon receipt 
of price, $8.00. 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 117 



ABORTION IN MARES AND COWS 

A Life Preserver 

AMONG the many articles and books written 
on the subject of Abortion, now so prevalent 
among both mares and cows, we find there 
is a vast difference of opinion as to the causes of 
abortion. During my many years of experience as 
a breeder, sparing no pains to so study this most 
annoying and unprofitable trouble, has been the 
means of opening the gates to success. 

Nearly every breeder all over the land has ex- 
perienced a financial loss of more or less from the 




effects of abortion. Breeders who have had this to 
contend with know full well what it means.. It 
means that if mares and cows cannot be kept from 
aborting, they must be sold (at a loss), as a breeder, 
and others put in their places. 

Oftentimes a mare will abort and be classed as 



118 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

barren, for the very reason that the owner of such 
mare is not aware of her aborting. The womb be- 
ing in a weak condition at time of service she 
aborts within a few days undetected by the owner. 

Conditions of Mares 

There is one very distressing condition that 
arises to both the owner of the mare and the owner 
of the stallion in the matter of aborting mares, they 
fail to realize that so many cases of abortion occur 
within only a few days after service. 

Abortion prevails in all parts of this country, 
Cut No. 3 Shows a Large Open Womb 




No. 3 

and in some breeding districts it has made horse 
breeding very unprofitable. If breeders and stal- 
lion owners would educate themselves in this mat- 
ter of abortion they would overcome a wonderful 
per cent of this trouble. 

Class No. i. A great many mares and cows 
carry their offspring for months and then abort 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 119 

through some unknown cause, very often on ac- 
count of weakness of the womb. 

When a mare or cow has aborted once she is 
pretty apt to abort again and at about the same 
period of pregnation, possibly through sympathy 
from the same affliction of the year before. This % 
can be remedied by beginning to treat her with the 
O. C. Abortion Remedy, about one month before 
that period that she had aborted other years, and 
by carrying her over that period she will then carry 
the foal the full time. 

To expend a few dollars for a remedy that can 
be relied upon is much better and cheaper than to 
discard a valuable mare or cow far below her real 
value as a breeder. 

It is claimed the loss in Nebraska alone, result- 
ing from mares that do not produce, amounts to 
$25,000,000 every year, and in all of the United 
States the loss from this source will reach $250,000,- 
000 every year. An average of less than 23 foals 
produced by every stallion owned in this country. 

Class No. 2. During my long experience with 
barren mares I have found about 60 per cent, of 
them to be mares with large open wombs at time 
of service. These mares get in foal very readily 
when bred, but their wombs being in a weak 
condition they have not strength and vitality 
enough to close and retain the service, conse- 
quently they abort within a few days after being 
bred and as a matter of course the owner not be- 
ing wise as to what has happened naturally keeps 
on breeding her time after time and finally calls 
her barren. There are many thousands of mares 



120 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

of this class being bred every year, and of course 
they fail to produce, thus causing a great financial 
loss among breeders. It is all wrong to cast these 
mares off as barren, when they would produce if 
they were treated for the cause ; of course if you 
never try to do anything you will never accomplish 
anything. If you would buy a grain farm and did 
not till the soil, you could not expect any financial 
profits. If you will examine a few mares that are 
considered barren you will find their wombs to be 
either too closed or too open, which is a proof 
for their barrenness. I have had mares of my own 
where their wombs were so open that I could easily 
insert nearly the whole hand. These same mares 
I treated at that time with the O. C. Abortion 
Remedy and they produced colts from that service 
the same as any mare. Some amateur breeders 
might ask how they are to know if the womb is 
in a weak condition or otherwise. For the benefit 
of such breeders I will describe the difference in 
which they may be found. 

Points of Interest 

When a mare's womb is in a normal condition 
you can just cleverly insert one finger. Such 
mares should be bred in the ordinary way and with- 
out any artificial assistance. 

When a mare's womb is too closed it is hard 
and rigid and you can scarcely insert one finger 
and sometimes not that. Such mares will not get 
in foal unless you use a Pregnator as artificial 
assistance. 

When a mare's womb is too open it is in a weak 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 121 

condition, open and flabby, and you can insert from 
two to four fingers or more. Such a womb has no 
vitality nor strength to close and retain the service. 
To put life and vitality into this class of wombs 
medicine must be administered to the mare internally- 
just as you would take medicine internally for the 
liver or kidneys, etc. The O. C. Abortion Remedy 
is given in the feed; it works on the womb, giving 
it strength and vitality. With this class of mares 
the treatment should begin as soon as they are 
bred, or even better if a week before, if the womb 
is too open you can rest assured that such mares 
will not carry the service many days unless you 
proceed at once to treat her with the O. C. Abor- 
tion Remedy. Exercise a little judgment, and, if 
you will do your part as a breeder, she will do her 
part; give her a chance, treat her for her misfor- 
tune and she will soon prove to you that she is a 
valuable brood mare, therefore do not be in a hurry 
to discard a mare because she does not breed. 

Price $2.00 per bottle. 25 cents extra if ordered 
sent by Parcel Post, otherwise it will be sent by 
express. 



122 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



THE O. C. DOUBLE ACTION STALLION 
CONTROLLER 




THE above cut shows a large and vicious draft 
stallion under perfect control with the O. C. 
Stallion Controller. 
In my own experience of many years handling 
stallions, and particularly those of the more vicious 
nature I have realized how dangerous it often be- 
comes. Too many times the keeper's life is in the 
gravest danger. Sometimes while in service a 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 125 

stallion becomes vicious and very wicked, while he 
may be very docile and gentle generally. Many a 
time after I had secured a vicious horse in his stall, 
I would realize how nearly I had come to serious 
accident or even death. Quite naturally I tried 
nearly every Controller that I could find on the 
market, and yet none of them seemed to fill the bilL 
Then I naturally turned to the task of experimen- 
ting for myself. The result was, I soon devised my 
present Controller, which I at once named " The 
O. C. Double Action Stallion Controller." It 
proved so successful and so completely perfect and 
having so many calls for them from my immediate 
friends that I decided to place them on sale. It is 
so constructed that it adjusts itself to the behavior 
of the horse. The bit is a joint bit with the mmxth 
pieces made flat so it will not cut the mouth. 

There is a strap fastened to one ring of the bit;, 
and goes over the nose and hooks into the opposite 
ring. Also double action twisted chain so con- 
structed between the two rings in the bit, that 
when the stallion pulls on the lead strap it brings 
all forces into action. It grips hold of his under 
jaw, tightens the strap over the nose so he cannot 
squeal enough to arouse the whole neighborhood. 
It forces the joint of the bit into the roof of his, 
mouth. When all these forces comes into action, 
it is more than he is able to endure, he is then 
completely subdued. 

Under Perfect Control 

With the O. C. Controller you have absolute con- 
trol over any stallion at all times; with it you have 



124 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

just as much control over a stallion as a man has 
over a bull with a ring in his nose. The peculiar 
action of the Controller forces him to yield to it 
at once and makes him recognize you as his master. 
No matter how gentle your stallion may be gen- 
erally, you often find him naturally quite deter- 
mined in breeding season, and when you are least 
expecting it, he will often cause you the most 
trouble. Every stallion keeper owes a duty to his 
own safety in behalf of his family as well as him- 
self to provide every precaution against possible 
danger. 

When a stallion decides to have his own way, 
it is almost impossible to control him with any 
other method I have ever seen. The O. C. Control- 
ler at once comes to the rescue, and he is made to 
know at once that YOU ARE MASTER. 

The cost of the O. C. Stallion Controller is very 
small, as the price has been put low, that it may 
compare favorably with prices on all goods listed 
in this catalogue, and at this low price, every stal- 
lion owner should feel it his duty to have a Con- 
troller for his own protection and welfare of his 
family. 

Price $2.25. If ordered sent by Parcel Post 25 
cents more, otherwise it will be sent by express. 

For want of space, I will only make mention here 
of the remainder of goods we have on sale. 

The O. C. Heave Remedy, per box $2.00 

The O. C. Good Samaritan Rernedy, per 

bottle i.SO 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 125 

The O. C. Worm Remedy, per box 50 

The O. C. Pile Ointment, which is great, per 

box 50 

The O. C. Gall Healer, per box 50 

The O. C. Stallion Conditioner, per box . . . 2.00 

Orlando Crittenden, 

Ashland, O. 



126 



THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 



Table Showing Time of Gestation from Any 
Date of Service 

The following table shows the time a mare is 
due to foal after any date of service. You will 
find this table to be very convenient. 



Date of 


Date of 


Date of 


Date of 


Date of 


Date of 


Breeding 


Foal 


ing 


Breeding 


Foal 


ing 


Breeding 


Foaling 


Jan. 1... 


..Dec 


. 6 


May 1... 


. .Apr 


. 5 


Sep. 1... 


..Aug. 6 


4... 




. 9 


4... 




. 8 


4... 


9 


7... 




.12 


7... 




.11 


7... 


12 


" 10... 




.15 


" 10... 




.14 


" 10... 


15 


" 13... 




.18 


" 13... 




.17 


" 13... 


18 


" 16... 




.21 


" 16... 




.20 


" 16... 


...:... 21 


" 19... 




.24 


" 19... 




.23 


" 19... 


24 


" 22... 




.27 


" 22... 




.27 


" 22... 


27 


" 25... 




.30 


" 25... 




.31 


" 25... 


30 


" 28... 


. .Jan 


. 2 


" 28... 


...May 


" 28... 


..Sep. 2 


" 31... 




. 5 


" 31... 




. 


Oct. 1. .. 


5 


Feb. 3... 




. 8 


Jun. 3... 




. 8 


4... 


8 


6... 




.11 


6... 




.11 


7... 


11 


9... 




.14 


9... 




.14 


" 10... 


.14 


" 12... 




.17 


" 12... 




.17 


" 13... 


17 


" 15... 




.20 


" 15... 




.20 


" 16... 


20 


" 18... 




.23 


" 18... 




.23 


" 19... 


23 


" 21... 




.26 


" 21... 




.26 


" 22... 


26 


" 24... 




.29 


" 24... 




.29 


" 25... 


29 


" 27... 


..Feb 


. 1 


" 27... 


. .Jun 


. 1 


" 28. . . 


..Oct. 2 


Mar. 2... 




. 4 


" 30... 




. 4 


" 31... 


5 


5... 




. 7 


Jul. 3... 




. 7 


Nov. 3... 


8 


" 8... 




.10 


6... 




.10 


6... 


11 


" 11... 




.13 


9... 




.13 


" 9... 


14 


" 14... 




.16 


" 12... 




.16 


" 12... 


17 


" 17... 




.19 


" 15... 




.19 


" 15... 


20 


" 20... 




.22 


" 18... 




.22 


" 18... 


23 


" 23... 




.25 


" 21... 




.25 


" 21... 


26 


" 26... 




.28 


" 24... 




.28 


" 24... 


29 


" 29... 


..Mar 


. 3 


" 27... 


...lu'l 


. 1 


" 27... 


..Nov. 1 


•Apr. 1... 




. 6 


" 30... 




. 4 


" 30... 


4 


4... 




. 9 


Aug. 2... 




. 7 


Dec. 3... 


7 


7... 




.12 


5... 




.10 


6... 


10 


" 10 




.15 

.18 


8 . 




13 


■" 9... 
" 12... 


13 


" 13... 


'* 11... 




.16 


16 


" 16... 




.21 


14... 




.19 


" 15... 


19 


" 19... 




.24 


17... 




.22 


" 18... 


22 


" 22... 




.27 


20... 




.25 


" 21... 


25 


" 25... 




.30 


' 23... 




.28 


" 24... 


28 


" 28... 


. .Apr 


. 2 


■' 26... 




.31 


" 27. . . 


..Dec. 1 








" 29... 


..Aug 


. 3 


" 30... 


4 



THE HORSE AS A PRODUCER. 127 



INDEX 

Page 

Acclimating the Horse 32 

Abortion in Mares and Cows 117 

Artificial Impregnation 51 

An Uncontrollable Stallion 22 

Artificial Breeding Devices a Success 62 

Breeding Bags 114 

Be Honorable in your Confession 53 

Carrying the Semen 50 Miles 59 

Care of Mare after Service 49 

Controlling Sex 99 

Care of the Colt after Foaling 74 

City Farmers 56 

Caution at time of Breeding 34 

Care of the Brood Mare 34 

Collecting Service Fees 23 

Conditioning the Stallion 25 

Cruelty to the Stallion 17 

Feeding 29 

Fall Foals 91 

Foals from Old Mares 69 

Feeding the Old Horse 84 

High Prices Paid for Horses 98 

His First Lesson in Serving Mares 10 

Hambletonian 10, in the Stud 19 

Hambletonian 10, as a Colt 21 

Kindness to the Horse 83 

Mares' First Milk 74 

Muscle Rather than Fat 15 



128 THE BREEDER AND HIS HORSE. 

INDEX— Continued 

Page 

Manner in Breeding 35 

Mail Order Breeding 59 

Nature's Complete Service 66 

O. C. Safety Pregnator 102 

O. C. Improved Reliable Pregnator 110 

O. C. Pregnator Extractor 108 

O. C. Human Pregnator 115 

Points of Interest 120 

Proper Feeding Important 41 

Raising Colts for Profit 77 

Raising an Orphan Foal 88 

Self- Abuse of Stallions 32 

To Know How 27 

Service for Stallions 20 

Should Possess Quality .28 

Stallion Controller 112 

Table of Gestation 126 

Two Classes of Barren Mares 64 

Twin Foals, One Mule, One Horse 72 

The Horse's Prayer 84 

Transmitting Quality 27 

The Case of Maud S, Breeding Organs Deformed 43 

The Effect After Producing Mules 73 

To All Stallion and Jack Owners 55 

Train the Foal 79 

Using the Stallion to Excess 18 

Unwise Driving Spoil Horses 96 

When to Breed Mares 47 

Weaning the Foals 86 

Watering the Horse 94 

Working the Stallion 12 



